Right to repair

Scott Potmesil, a fourth-generation farmer who raises cattle in Sandhills, Nebraska, recently bought a John Deere tractor that is over 25 years old. He said he purposely went looking for the older device in 2020 because he believed it would be easier to repair than newer models, which can often be fixed only by authorized dealerships. “I visited with my local mechanic and asked which tractor he could fix, and it was a 1995 one,” Potmesil said. “New equipment is getting so complicated and loaded with sensors. If one of them goes out, you can’t even start your tractor. You need a technician and software to identify the problem.” A bill introduced Tuesday in the Senate could help make it easier for farmers like Potmesil to repair their tractors independently. The legislation would require agriculture equipment manufacturers to make spare parts, instruction manuals and software codes publicly available, allowing farmers to fix devices by themselves or hire third-party mechanics of their own choosing. The bill’s sponsor, Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., said in an interview that he has heard from many farmers who reported that difficulties repairing equipment hurt their businesses. “We’ve got to figure out ways to empower farmers to make sure they can stay on the land. This is one of the ways to do it,” Tester said. “I think that the more we can empower farmers to be able to control their own destiny, which is what this bill does, the safer food chains are going to be.” Tester said fa...

Today, the federal government’s major auto safety regulator told automakers not to comply with a new Massachusetts state law. The fight over who can see data about your car is getting weird. Telematics – Your Car’s Diary Modern cars are pretty much computers on wheels. They contain dozens, sometimes hundreds, of tiny microchips controlling everything from engine timing to cabin temperature. And they keep track of a lot of it. So-called vehicle telematics data keeps track of, among other things, the car’s performance and possible mechanical problems. Some cars even broadcast the data back to the automakers’ servers through always-on mobile internet connections. In some cases, automakers can send remote commands to the vehicles. That enables over-the-air software updates that fix problems remotely. Related: Telematics data can be vital to diagnosing problems and repairing them. But some automakers have been reluctant to make it available. Without it, owners could be limited to using dealers for repairs. Third-party repair shops could be unable to perform some repairs. As even inexpensive cars grow more connected, that could squeeze repair shops out of business. Massachusetts Has a “Right to Repair” Law In 2020, Massachusetts voters passed a so-called “right to repair” law by referendum. It required automakers to make their telematics data available to third-party repair shops. Today, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration told automakers not to comply with the la...

• BG - български • ES - español • CS - čeština • DA - dansk • DE - Deutsch • ET - eesti keel • EL - Ελληνικά • EN - English • FR - français • GA - Gaeilge • HR - hrvatski • IT - italiano • LV - latviešu valoda • LT - lietuvių kalba • HU - magyar • MT - Malti • NL - Nederlands • PL - polski • PT - português • RO - română • SK - slovenčina • SL - slovenščina • FI - suomi • SV - svenska The European Commission has announced the establishment of a 'right to repair', with a view of saving costs for consumers and facilitating the development of a circular economy. The right to repair may refer to different issues and situations: repair during the legal guarantee, the right to repair after the legal guarantee has expired, and the right for consumers to repair products themselves. Rates of repair depend on the type of a product, with the cost of repair being the most important reason consumers avoid repair. Research shows that consumers favour products that are easily repaired, but their willingness to pay for such products depends on the type of product and the way information on the reparability is presented to them. Currently, EU contract laws give consumers a right to have faulty products repaired during the legal guarantee, while the new generation of ecodesign rules require the availability of spare parts for a certain time, at least for some products. Repair-related requirements are also present in the rules on the EU Ecolabel. The Commission is now planning a number of ini...

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Early Friday, President Joe Biden signed an The new directive to the FTC comes a couple of months after the commission delivered a 54-page report to Congress Reuters It’s too soon to determine what the FTC’s new rules might look like or how long it will take the agency to impose any new regulations. But the Biden administration’s involvement in repair issues brings national attention to a topic that has, for the most part, been addressed only in legislation at the state level. And it could have major implications for large tech companies and equipment makers that have historically held a tight grip on how—and by who—their devices can be repaired. As part of their arguments, right-to-repair groups have alleged that tech companies such as Apple and Microsoft, as well as farm equipment makers like John Deere and large medical device makers, have made it intentionally difficult for consumers to seek independent repairs, often forcing consumers to go back to the original manufacturers for fixes. “We’re really excited to hear this news,” says Kerry Maeve Sheehan, iFixit’s lead on US policy, in response to Biden’s executive order. “And we’re grateful that the Biden administration is stepping in with a strong endorsement for right to repair and really pushing the FTC to take action.” Both Sheehan and Nathan Proctor, who leads the US PIRG’s right-to-repair campaign, say this is the first time in the history of the grassroots repair movement in the US that a sitting president has we...

“More repair choices will protect the environment by cutting down on the amount of new electronics we make and old stuff we toss,” Proctor said. “More choices help save money and cut down-time waiting for the manufacturer’s technician, which is especially important for farmers on tight planting or harvesting schedules. This is a win.”

When you buy something, you should have the right to repair it, whether that means taking it to the repair shop of your choice or fixing it yourself. Manufacturers of all kinds of things—smartphones, tractors, wheelchairs, and beyond—unfairly limit their customers’ repair options, making repair more expensive and difficult. The In case you missed it, It wasn’t so long ago that every cell phone battery could be replaced by hand— without tools—and every appliance came with schematics. But before we realized it, Companies are against the Right to Repair for one simple reason: Controlling repair makes them money. They profit when you use their dealer repair services. They profit when independent repair shops can’t get the parts to fix your stuff. And they profit when you decide to buy something new because you’re too frustrated by the hassle of fixing what you’ve already got. Manufacturers will say they’re trying to protect customer safety, even though repair is six times safer than the average job and independent repair technicians come from the same trained, experienced labor pool as manufacturers’ technicians. They’ll say they’re trying to protect customer data, even though the want to. If you work for a manufacturer, we’re happy to help you figure out Shady Anti-Repair Strategies Here are some of the sneaky anti-repair strategies that manufacturers use to keep you under their thumb and buying new. Restricting Access to Parts, Tools, and Manuals Many manufacturers restrict ...

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The new Minnesota rules take effect July 1st, 2024, and they cover products sold on or after July 1st, 2021. If manufacturers sell a product in the state, they must offer residents the equipment to repair it on “fair and reasonable” terms within 60 days, and they must offer documentation for performing repairs and service free of charge. Failure to do so will violate Minnesota’s Deceptive Trade Practices statute, opening manufacturers up to penalties from the attorney general. • “This is a common-sense bipartisan bill to help people avoid unnecessary delays from equipment repairs,” Governor Polis says in a statement. “Farmers and ranchers can lose precious weeks and months when equipment repairs are stalled due to long turnaround times by manufacturers and dealers. This bill will change that.” • HMD has worked to make what it says are the most common smartphone repairs — replacing a broken screen, charging port, or flat battery — a simpler process on its new Nokia G22, and it’s partnering with repair specialists iFixit to provide customers with the necessary replacement parts, tools, and guides. The Nokia G22 will be available on March 8th in the UK for £149.99 (€179 / around $180) and will be sold in select global markets like Europe but not the US. For years, John Deere has been at the center of the right-to-repair debate, and not in a good way. The company put software locks on equipment that only authorized dealers can disable, preventing farmers or an independent repa...