Jim Hightower Happy Hour & The 'Right To Repair' Consumer Movement

[appalachiablue]

- You bought it, you own it--and that means if it broke, you can fix it, right? Not so fast! Turns out, the greedhead corporate makers of stuff from iPhones to John Deere tractors have made it illegal (!) for us consumers to fix our *own stuff* in an effort to bilk us out of even more money.

Hightower is joined at the Chat & Chew by Nathan Proctor of Public Interest Research Group, Willie Cade of Repair.org, and Walter Schweitzer of the Montana Farmers Union-- all leaders of the fast-rising Right to Repair consumer movement. Grab a libation and come on down! (July 13, 2021).
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- U.S. PIRG. (Public Interest Research Group). 'We generate way too much waste, and companies intentionally make things harder to repair. We're backing reforms to give you what you need to fix your stuff.' TAKE ACTION

You buy stuff. It breaks or doesn't work right. You could throw it away and buy new stuff, but you'd rather repair it. But then you find out you can't do it yourself, you can't even bring it to a third party repair shop. You have to bring it back to the original company, which can charge an arm and a leg because there's no competition—and sometimes they just won’t fix it. And you decide to throw the thing away. It means more cost to consumers, and also means more waste.

Americans dispose of 416,000 cell phones per day, and only 15 to 20 percent of electronic waste is recycled.

We imagine a different kind of system, where instead of throwing things out, we reuse, salvage and rebuild. But that means taking on the big companies who would push us into buying more and throwing more away. The goal of our Right to Repair campaign is to give every consumer and small business access to the parts, tools and service information they need to repair products so we can keep things in use and reduce waste.

- From Smartphones To Tractors: A recent example from the COVID-19 pandemic highlights why Right to Repair reforms are needed. In the fall of 2020, school districts across the nation experienced a shortage of 5 million laptops. Disruptions in the supply chain that delayed orders for new computers, and families were scrambling to equip their students with little luck. We have manufactured enough laptops and tablets to meet this need, but many fixable devices end up in the waste stream because manufacturers restrict repair. Right to Repair would mean devices stay in use and provide low-cost options for people who just need a working computer.

Additionally, modern farm equipment, increasingly software driven, is getting harder to fix. When manufacturers restrict access to the software tools needed to repair broken tractors, farmers are left out in the cold. They are forced to rely on dealerships to fix their equipment, which can lead to lengthy delays and inflated repair bills. With fields to be plowed, planted and harvested, farmers don’t have the time to wait for a dealer. They need to be able to fix their own stuff. - Medical Right to Repair key to patient care: Manufacturers of ventilators, dialysis machines and other critical medical devices routinely restrict access to essential repair materials. That leaves hospital repair technicians, commonly known as biomeds, without the tools they need to fix medical equipment as soon as it breaks.....https://uspirg.org/feature/usp/right-repair

[Hoyt]

1. Bookmark for later. Think the issue is, should a farmer have access to software

that runs a Deere Tractor or iPhone.

[PoliticAverse]

2. John Deere (where workers are currently on strike) is a major enemy of "right to repair"...

Farmers Across America Are Suing for the Right to Repair Their John Deere Tractors
https://www.motorbiscuit.com/farmers-america-right-to-repair-john-deere-tractors/

[appalachiablue]

3. I think we understand that one; repair is still a serious, costly issue

Motorbiscuit. .. The practice of upgrading software and then forbidding owners from repairing their tractors means farmers have to buy new equipment or new software. These costs can reach up to $600,000. In 2018, the Equipment Dealers Association (EDA) entered into a signed agreement with John Deere making private repairs easier for farmers. By making things like software guides, diagnostic equipment, repair tools available to farmers. This was supposed to begin on January 1st of this year.

However, Extreme Tech reports that John Deere “isn’t keeping up its end of the bargain.” The “increasingly onerous software lockouts” that John Deere “baked into its tractors” aren’t yet in the past. The deal with the EDA made many states considering adding Right to Repair legislation ease off on the movement. But now, that’s looking like a mistake.

John Deere owners are now dealing with problems with their John Deere tractors. Replacements and small repairs are more and more difficult. Owners have to keep heading into John Deere dealerships for what Extreme Tech calls “trivial repairs.” Certain details like fair pricing and other moving parts of the deal haven’t been attended to. In fact, John Deere doesn’t seem to be implementing any of the necessary changes. These changes must take place in order to make this deal actually better for farmers.

Another John Deere lawsuit could be on the horizon...