I dare ask, what’s the cynical / self-interested angle on this?
European legislation that makes US right to repair compliance moot (i.e. as long as new products will have to comply with stricter foreign norms, might as well adopt them in all locales)?
That was my first thought when I read this. My highly cynical take would be endorsing this they could then pivot to being a full on advocate, and then tailor laws to benefit themselves and hurt their rivals. The low cynical take is they realized it is pointless to fight this so embrace it early for the PR.
In their apple article on apple support RTR, they write, "This is a landmark shift in policy from Apple." [1]
It's not. They have played this game before; creating RTR "friendly" programs and then forcing signing of strict NDAs, and requirements that leave repair shops worse then they would without the program. [2-5]
Also, "It means, effectively, that consumers have won". Wow, I have never heard that before, only for it to fail or be false. Remind you of the New York bill which was kneecapped at "last minute by Gov. Kathy Hochul"? [6]
European legislation that makes US right to repair compliance moot (i.e. as long as new products will have to comply with stricter foreign norms, might as well adopt them in all locales)?