The Security Innovation Center is a lobbying group backed by CompTIA,
CTIA, TechNet and the Consumer Technology Association for the express
purpose of fighting laws that would legalize repairing your own
property, or choosing to have it repaired by third parties.
The group released a push-poll
that showed that people were (quite rightly) concerned about malicious
software and defective products, with the nonsensical conclusion that
this means that states should not pass “right to repair”
legislation that ensures that Americans can fix their own tools, or
choose to take them to independent repair shops for service.
The group’s spokesman warned of a hypothetical risk of third parties
introducing defects during service, citing attacks like the Mirai worm
– but Mirai spread because manufacturers sold defective products, and
not because independent service centers introduced defects to these
products after they were sold.
The group also supports a ban on reporting defects in products, arguing
that manufacturers should be allowed to censor security researchers who
discover dangerous flaws that expose their customers to risk.
