Fight for the right to repair

I saw this article in the July 29, 2017 print issue of New Scientist.

http://punemirror.indiatimes.com/others/scitech/fight-for-the-right-to-repair/articleshow/59850370.cms

By: Matt Reynolds
Updated: Aug 1, 2017

Tech giants are making phones harder to repair, so we’re chucking them sooner, but a new movement wants this practice to end and give consumers more choice

The battle to create the perfect smartphone is a neverending struggle, involving some of the world's most famous tech companies, like Apple and Samsung. But the pursuit of thinner, faster, lighter designs has an ugly side. The devices we lap up with each big release are growing more expensive to repair. Phones, it seems, are becoming disposable by design.

It doesn’t have to be this way. An unlikely coalition of gadget fans and farmers is campaigning for the right to fix what we own.

This year, law-makers in 12 US states have proposed so-called “right to repair” bills that would force firms to release repair manuals and tools to the public. The European Parliament has also called on member states to put in place greater repair rights, with adebate due later this year.

The tech giants are fighting back, lobbying hard to keep these laws off the books. Is this just an issue for the hardcore tinkerers to worry about? Or should we all be demanding the right to fix our phones and other gadgets?

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And it’s not just phone companies. Some faults in modern tractors can only be repaired using troubleshooting tools that manufacturers won’t sell to farmers. Their only choice is to pay the high call-out fees manufacturers and authorised repair shops charge.

Farmers in the US are also fighting for the right to repair their own equipment, but tractor-maker John Deere is lobbying against bills in Kansas and Wyoming, and it’s working. Despite support from Democrats and Republicans, right-to-repair bills have been shelved in every state where they were proposed.

Gay Gordon-Byrne of US advocacy group The Repair Association isn’t deterred. Many state legislators are planning on bringing right to repair back to the table next year, she says. And if one or two states pass a bill, that could be enough to encourage others to take the plunge.

She is hoping to recreate the success of a campaign that shook up the US car industry in 2012, when Massachusetts passed a right to repair law forcing vehicle makers to hand over diagnostic and repair information. Manufacturers later committed to doing the same in all 50 states.

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Thankfully, there is an alternative – if you’re willing to get your hands a little dirty – with a growing number of people creating online repair manuals.

“Smartphones are a really integral part of our lives and they break all the time. Of course consumers are going to figure out how to fix them,” says Julia Bluff of iFixit, a website that hosts nearly 30,000 user-generated repair guides and sells suitable kits for thousands of gadgets.

Whenever a major smartphone is released, iFixit’s community of DIY repairers rush to disassemble it and publish a repair guide within days. Would-be menders have their work cut out, though. In June, iFixit partnered with Greenpeace on a report looking at which brands produce the most or least fixable gadgets. Only Fairphone, Dell and HP make spare parts and manuals available to the public, the report found.

Often the trickiest part of the repair is getting inside the device, Bluff says. Microsoft’s Surface laptops are notoriously difficult to crack. “They are glued together so they are not serviceable. You break the device apart in order to get into it,” she says.

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http://repair.org/follow-repairorg-in-the-news/

The Repair Association, previously the Digital Right to Repair Coalition, was formed in 2013. The Association represents everyone involved in repair of technology—from DIY hobbyists and independent repair technicians, to environmental organizations and the aftermarket.

In addition to standing up for your interests in Washington DC, The Repair Association is a place where repair industry professionals can meet on common terms to discuss issues that relate to us all, network with other members, and move our businesses and our industry forward.