Minnesota May Be First State To Pass A Right To Repair Law

Legal Issues

from the fix-it-your-damn-self dept

Minnesota appears poised to be the first state to pass “right to repair” legislation taking aim at corporate efforts to monopolize repair. The grass-roots technology movement in support of these bills began in rural America, where the draconian DRM embedded in John Deere tractors made repairing them a costly nightmare for many farmers. The movement has also been prodded along thanks to efforts from companies like Sony, Microsoft, and Apple to effectively ban third-party repair of games consoles and phones; a move that not only restricts consumer freedom and drives up consumer costs, but creates additional unnecessary waste.

California recently became the 20th state to eye such legislation, though Minnesota appears likely to be the first to actually pass such a law. Minnesota’s law has passed through committee and awaits a vote in the Minnesota House, and if approved (which seems likely) would take effect in early 2020.

Not too surprisingly, both John Deere and Apple lobbyists have descended upon Minnesota to prevent that from happening. For its part, John Deere doubled down on the primary (and false) argument most of these companies are making; namely that if you let consumers and authorized third-party shops repair consumer tech, you’re putting consumers at risk:

“A John Deere spokesperson said the parts, diagnostic and manuals are already available to its owners, and that customers can contact a dealer where ?trained technicians provide expertise and assistance with service issues in the shop or, in many cases, remotely in the field.? It stands by the general opposition to release software to the masses, citing the software?s purpose to make sure equipment runs safely, properly, and up to changing standards. Other companies also argue intellectual property should be protected.”

Granted that ignores that in many rural areas, there’s no “authorized” repair option for hundreds of miles, meaning that farmers often have to pay to have the tractor shipped that distance (generating huge additional costs). In desperation, some tractor owners have turned to using pirated Ukrainian firmware, which obviously creates its own issues in terms of security and stability.

Apple, Microsoft, Sony, and Verizon have all utilized similar arguments, all focused on the unsubstantiated claim that breaking down these repair monopolies will result in a steady parade of untold security and safety horribles. When a similar law was proposed in Nebraska, Apple lobbyists attempted to claim that passing such a law would turn the state into a “mecca for hackers” and various ne’er-do-wells. It’s a pretty flimsy argument, one used specifically to obscure one goal: to pad revenues by banning repair shop competition.

As such Apple can often be found harassing independent repair shops all around the world, while ignoring one central truth: as owners of these devices, they should be able to do whatever the hell they’d like to do with them as long as they’re not harming themselves or others.

Filed Under: competition, minnesota, ownership, right to repair