Fight to Repair Daily: August 5, 2022

Massachusetts inches closer to decision on automotive right to repair. Also: Nintendo fans are rallying against DMCA take downs.

Aug 06, 2022

🎧 Episode 4 of our podcast What The Fix!? is out! You can listen on Substack or wherever you listen to your podcasts.

Public excluded as Judge sets closed-door hearing in Massachusetts ‘right to repair’ case

The judge in the Massachusetts “right to repair” lawsuit has scheduled a closed-door hearing for Sept. 1, indicating that his long-anticipated opinion might be imminent.

AAI filed suit in November 2020, after Massachusetts voters approved the Massachusetts Data Access law. Under Section 2 of the law, any OEM that sells a vehicle in the state that utilizes a telematics system “shall be required to equip such vehicles with an inter-operable, standardized and open access platform across all of the manufacturer’s makes and models.” The legislation became effective with the 2022 model year. AAI claims that, among other things, the deadline was impossible to meet, and that OEMs could not comply with the law without violating federal safety and environmental laws.

Woodlock has delayed issuing his opinion and finding of facts several times, most recently, because he needed to consider the implications of the Supreme Court’s June 30 ruling in West Virginia v. Environmental Protection Agency. The justices ruled that, in general, the EPA can’t make power plants switch to sustainable energy sources under the Clean Air Act but can still regulate greenhouse-gas emissions. (Repair Driven News)

🎮 Weekend Reads: Nintendo fans fired up about DMCA take downs

The Digital Millennium Copyright Act has been able to restrict repair for decades. When it comes to video games, the law is being used to prohibit modding, use of soundtracks, and more – and Nintendo has been the latest company to catch flack:

Uplifting News: Fix-it Fairs refurbish furniture for local refugee families

Volunteers from several King County (Washington) cities recently helped refurbish old furniture to help Afghan refugees at the Repair Economy Washington’s (REW) Furniture Fix-it Fair in mid-July.

Over the course of the three-day event, 31 volunteers contributed 197 hours of work. In total, 39 furniture pieces were refurbished. The furniture was then donated to four families (13 people in total) from Afghanistan who recently relocated into, at the time, unfurnished permanent housing.

REW is a new project by Zero Waste Washington which is paid for by a public participation grant from the Department of Ecology. (Seattle Weekly)

🔌 Today I Realized The European Union Is Totally Right About USB-C

If you go back a couple of years and buy a laptop, you have different charging options according to the brand you picked. A Dell Laptop with a pin-shaped charger might not fit your Lenovo notebook, or so to speak, a MacBook that only had MagSafe or USB-C ports.

If you would ask me, I have been a long-time supporter of the standard charging hardware for almost all devices. But I got to see the perks in action recently when I shifted to a new city. I forgot to pack my laptop charger and was anxious about how I would fuel up my machine once it dies after 20 minutes. I was calculating the shipping costs to get my charger back but what came to my rescue is the USB-C power adapter of my roommate’s 13″ MacBook Pro. While Apple has been stubborn about removing Lightning from iPhone, the company has embraced USB-C on MacBooks and iPads to the fullest.

The fact that I was able to use an ‘Apple charger’ for my Lenovo laptop is a big irony in itself. The Cupertino-giant is known for all sorts of practices like maintaining a closed garden and making its devices harder and more expensive to repair. (fossbytes)

Biden Adviser Tim Wu to Leave After Shaping Antitrust Policy

Wu, who coined the term “net neutrality,” rose to prominence as one of the most aggressive critics of the major technology and telecom companies, arguing that they had a stranglehold over the economy that was hurting smaller companies and consumers. In early 2020, Wu offered his signature warning: “Antitrust winter is over,” after which Biden brought him into the administration.

White House adviser Tim Wu, who worked to shape the Biden administration’s agenda to increase economic competition, is set to leave his position in the coming months, according to people familiar with the move.

Wu is expected to return to antitrust law at Columbia Law School after serving as special assistant to the president for technology and competition policy since March 2021. (Bloomberg)

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