President Joe Biden’s broad executive order aimed at enhancing competition indirectly targets a contentious area of copyright law: a ban on thwarting copyright protection mechanisms, even by a product’s owner for noninfringing reasons like repairs.
The order, issued July 9, urged the Federal Trade Commission to target a number of practices, including “unfair restrictions on third-party repair or self-repair” of goods. The intent of the order is to make it easier for owners of products to get them fixed without having to return to the seller.
The order could signal to big tech and other companies that the right ...
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