'Right to repair' advocates claim major victory in new smartphone copyright exemption

In a new ruling that will take effect on Sunday, the Librarian of Congress has carved out a series of exemptions that allow people to legally circumvent digital "locks" on devices they own, such as voice assistants, tablets, smartphones and vehicles, to repair them. Motherboard earlier reported on the ruling. Device manufactures currently use digital protection measures to safeguard their intellectual property. The digital locks are intended to prevent the theft of intellectual property and to keep consumers from compromising their electronics, thereby preserving the integrity and security of a device's operating system, Industry groups have argued. The exemptions permit customers to unlock their smartphones and get around restrictions built into other mainstream devices, including smart home assistants, said to Kyle Wiens, founder of iFixit.