{"id":15127,"date":"2015-02-14T12:52:16","date_gmt":"2015-02-14T17:52:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ilsr.org\/articles\/repair-re-sell-do-you-have-the-right-to-fix-your-own-gadgets\/"},"modified":"2024-05-01T17:33:49","modified_gmt":"2024-05-01T17:33:49","slug":"digital-repair","status":"publish","type":"article","link":"https:\/\/ilsr.org\/es\/article\/composting-for-community\/digital-repair","title":{"rendered":"Repair & re-sell: Do you have the right to fix your own gadgets?"},"template":"","class_list":["post-15127","article","type-article","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","article_type-article","initiatives-composting-for-community","topics-right-to-repair","authors-sophia-bennett"],"acf":{"details":{"featured_image":7937,"background_color":"","article_type":[134],"initiative":15,"display_event_fields":false,"start_date":null,"end_date":null,"start_time":null,"end_time":null,"time_zone":"America\/New_York","virtual_event":false,"location":"","topics":[115],"impact_areas":false,"abstract":"

The policy of discouraging or even prohibiting repair and reuse is definitely not a win for the environment, but it is also a serious consumer rights issue. … Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","authors_tax":[669]},"sidebar":{"title":"\u00cdndice"},"page_layout":[{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_wysiwyg","_acfe_flexible_toggle":null,"component_wysiwyg":{"content":"

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Let\u2019s say it\u2019s the weekend and you\u2019re just getting ready to settle down with a book, leave on a business trip or enjoy a night on the town with friends. You grab your e-reader\/tablet\/cell phone \u2013 only to discover it\u2019s broken. The repair shops are all closed and you really need it to work right now. Desperation drives you to the Internet, and though it takes some serious searching, you finally discover detailed instructions for repairing your device on a site like iFixit (https:\/\/www.ifixit.com<\/a>).<\/p>\n

There\u2019s just one problem. By opening up that gadget, you may have jeopardized your ability to keep using it.<\/p>\n

Take Barnes & Noble\u2019s Nook, for example. Section 2, part (d) of the Terms of Service agreement (https:\/\/www.barnesandnoble.com\/u\/Terms-of-Service-NOOK-Simple-Touch\/379003279\/<\/a>) states the following: \u201cExcept as may be expressly permitted by this Agreement, you may not, directly or indirectly \u2026 disassemble, reverse engineer, emulate, decompile, [or] tamper with \u2026 the technology used to provide the Service.\u201d In other words, if you take the back cover off your Nook in an attempt to fix it, you\u2019ve violated your \u201cagreement\u201d with Barnes & Noble and they can suspend your service.<\/p>\n

The Nook is one glaring example of the trend toward making it harder, if not impossible, for consumers and businesses to repair and resell their own electronic devices. More and more manufacturers of items like video game systems, cell phones, servers, major medical equipment, even tractors are putting policies in place that bar you from fixing items you own. They don\u2019t have to provide manuals explaining how to make repairs, and they don\u2019t have to make tools and parts available. Even if the company doesn\u2019t currently have a policy like Barnes & Noble\u2019s, which threatens punishment if you tamper with the device, it\u2019s legal for them to alter their terms of service and limit the ways you can use your favorite electronics at any time \u2013 even after<\/span> you\u2019ve purchased it and come to rely on it.<\/p>\n

In addition, there is some concern about the ability to resell these items because companies can lay claim to the software that makes them operate. E-readers are a good example of this. While it is legal for you to sell your device, it is not legal for you to transfer any of the software that makes the device work to the new owner unless you get the express permission of the manufacturer. And who wants to buy an e-reader they can\u2019t use to read?<\/p>\n

The policy of discouraging or even prohibiting repair and reuse is definitely not a win for the environment, but it is also a serious consumer rights issue.<\/strong> <\/em><\/div>\n
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If you purchase an item, you should have the freedom to do what you want with it. Policies such as these limit your ability to use your property as you see fit.<\/div>\n

\u201cThe array of things you can\u2019t fix right now is awful and getting worse,\u201d says Gay Gordon-Byrne with the Digital Right to Repair Coalition (DRTR) (https:\/\/www.digitalrighttorepair.org\/<\/a>). She reports that tons of electronic devices are thrown away because manufacturers have made it unfairly expensive or difficult to repair them. \u201cIt\u2019s totally a matter of policy and not physical repairability.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

DRTR is one of a handful of organizations advocating for state and federal legislation that would require electronics manufacturers to do three things:<\/p>\n

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  1. Share their Terms of Service and other mandatory agreements with consumers before<\/span> they buy them, not after, and prohibit them from changing those agreements after a person has purchased the device.<\/li>\n
  2. Provide information and tools to anyone interested in repairing electronic equipment.<\/li>\n
  3. Allow individuals to transfer essential software with a device when they sell or give it away to someone else.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Background<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

    How are manufacturers able to lay claim to a piece of equipment they no longer own? It has a lot to do with current U.S. copyright law. Manufacturers are claiming that the advanced electronics and customized software in things like MRI machines, tractors and servers are proprietary and they have a right to protect them.<\/p>\n

    That makes sense to some extent, but Gordon-Byrne says they\u2019ve taken their case too far by not allowing anyone who is not a company certified technician to work on them \u2013 even if the repairs have nothing to do with the proprietary applications software.<\/p>\n

    \u201cThese companies won\u2019t provide tools, manuals, anything,\u201d she says. \u201cAnything that has a chip in it, if it isn\u2019t already a problem to repair it, it can become a problem at any moment because the manufacturer can say, \u2018Oh, this is mine.\u2019\u201d In other words, the companies continue to lay claim to pieces of a machine even after they\u2019ve sold it, and they have a right to limit how a person interacts with the entire machine as a result.<\/p>\n

    So far corporations have resisted seizing equipment from individual consumers. After all, a story about a Fortune 500 company preventing a college student from trying to repair his or her laptop wouldn\u2019t make for very good PR. Their preferred tactic is to go after the small, independently-owned repair businesses that fix things like medical equipment and consumer electronics. If a corporate giant sues a mom-and-pop repair shop for copyright infringement or sends them a cease-and-desist letter, they almost always back down, Gordon-Byrne says. Even if they know they could win in court, they can\u2019t afford a lawsuit that could drag on for years.<\/p>\n

    Once legal, independent repair shops are out of the way, corporations can push people to sign expensive service contracts or require them to use their own overpriced technicians. They often inflate repair prices to the point where it makes more financial sense to buy a new product \u2013 even if the old item needs only a minor repair.<\/p>\n

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    About DRTR<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

    DRTR was founded by a combination of environmental groups, individual consumers, digital advocacy groups, and industry organizations that represent private repair businesses. The coalition has more than 20 members. A full list is available on their website, but here are a few examples of participants:<\/p>\n