Fight to Repair Weekly: Week of October 31, 2022
All eyes are on New York Governor Kathy Hochul, who hasn’t signed the Digital Fair Repair Act five months after it passed. And: pro-repair FUTO.org launches fellowship and grant program.
All eyes on New York’s Governor
With the only electronics right to repair bill to have passed through a state legislature awaiting the signature of New York Governor Kathy Hochul, all eyes are on the New York. Here are some stories highlighting the tension over the more than four month delay in signing the bill:
The nation’s first right to repair law is waiting for Kathy Hochul’s signature
An article in VICE’s Motherboard notes that the Digital Fair Repair Act is not controversial among people or the legislature. It passed 147 to 2 in the assembly and 59 to 4 in the senate. “Poll after poll shows that Right to Repair is an incredibly popular policy. It's not often that something saves you money, protects the environment and empowers local small businesses— perhaps that's why the Fair Repair Act passed overwhelmingly in the Legislature,” Nathan Proctor, the head of USPIRG's Right to Repair Campaign, told Motherboard. ‘The only people against it seem to be manufacturers, and unfortunately, they are using their lobbying clout to try to slow down this common-sense reform. (Motherboard)
Albany’s Times Union urges Governor to sign right to repair bill
With all eyes on New York’s embattled Governor Kathy Hochul, Albany’s Times Union has published an editorial urging her to sign the Digital Fair Repair Act, the U.S.’s first electronics right to repair bill, which passed New York’s state legislature in June. Deep pocketed lobbyists have set their sights on scuttling the bill, the Times Union’s editorial page notes. Governor Hochul should sign it nonetheless. The editorial follows Times Union reporting that documented how lobbyists and special interests representing home appliance makers, agricultural equipment makers and more drastically trimmed the bill before it was passed. (Albany Times Union- Subscription required)
Opinion: standing up for farmers means backing their right to repair
Writing for local Wyoming news site county10.com, Chad Franke Vice President of the Rocky Mountain Farmers Union argues that the inability of farmers to get the repair tools and information they need to fix their equipment erects just one more barrier - along with high costs and thin margins - to family farmers continuing the tradition of farming.
Franke, who operated a family farm in Colorado before selling it to move to Wyoming, said he has a degree in mechanical engineering, “so I’m used to fixing things myself.” On his farm, Franke said older equipment like his John Deere 5010 tractor “was eminently fixable. When the starter went bad, you’d just find another starter around on a similar piece of equipment. It didn’t even have to match perfectly, I remember using bailing wire to fasten something on just to get a job done.”
No longer. “Even if you have the exact part you need, many times those parts have programmed instructions on them which are unique to that specific piece of equipment (a process called ‘VIN burning,’ he note. “The only one who can install those instructions? You guessed it, the dealership.”
The goal is easy enough to see. “As an engineering decision, designing parts to have unique software instructions serves no real purpose other than forcing your customer to come back to the authorized shop for repairs.” (County10.com)
Other News
FUTO launches open source fellowship: FUTO, which recently brought on right to repair activist Louis Rossmann, is launching a grant program for open source software to return power to users, Rossmann announced on YouTube.
EU delays repair legislation: The EU has delayed its right to repair legislation for at least six months.
Antitrust win for DOJ: The Department of Justice has blocked the merger of two major book publishers - Penguin Random House and Simon & Schuster.
Emissions from e-waste are growing: Emissions from electronic devices and e-waste increased by 53% from 2014 and 2020, including 580 metric tons of carbon dioxide in 2020 alone – according to a new study.
Praise for Framework: Framework's DIY Laptops Are A Right-To-Repair refreshment, according to Paste Magazine, which profiles the repairable laptop maker in a new article.
Zero waste future: Just Zero, a national zero-waste advocacy organization promoting policies on trash, reuse, and the circular economy has officially launched.
Events, Resources, and Opportunities
The Restart Project, a UK based repair organization, is looking for members to join its board of trustees [Applications are due by November 15, 2022].
You can listen to their podcast if you want to learn more about them.
Watch the event recording for “Struggles Over Digital Tools and Consumer Rights”.
