Right to Repair Lounge
TLDR you can read this post but this is a megathread dedicated to the following:
This thread is exactly what we lack here on L1techs, a right to repair megathread. Lets start off with what is right to repair? The right to repair refers to proposed government legislation that would allow consumers the ability to repair and modify their own consumer products electronic, automotive devices or farm vehicles such as tractors, where otherwise the manufacturer of such products requires the consumer to use only their offered services by restricting access to tools and components, or software barriers put in place to hinder independent repair or modification. These obstacles often lead to higher consumer costs or drive consumers to replace devices instead of repairing them. While the global community is concerned over the continuously growing size of the waste stream (especially electronic components), the primary debate over the right to repair has been centered on the United States and within the European Union.
What is the post for?
This post is for the following:
- News stories regarding political legislation related to R2R
- Schematics, drawings, pertinent technical data packages on parts (nothing illegal)
- Instructional resources
- 3D printing relevent to R2R articles
- Training materials on repairing devices
- Anything that helps people repair stuff
- Personal reviews, attestments
- Attitudes: Are you for it? Are you against it and why?
- Low barrier cost of entry software like low cost CAD.
- Discussing and organizing your political involvement/participation to form strong R2R Rights (Laws)
- Discussing and making public all Anti Consumer practices you have experienced and from whom
- Hardware AND Software/firmware right 2 repair related resources
What this post is not for:
- Conspiracy Theories
- Speculation or anecdotal information difficult to prove or disprove.
- Fringe theories that slander huge name companies because monkey see monkey do
- Bottom line keep the way out there stuff far away.
Why is this important?
First and foremost this has huge environmental saving impacts. Its not just consumers who benefit here. Reducing waste is one of the most important things we can do to protect the environment. Single-use plastics and landfill waste are far from the only contributors to waste. Electronics are hard to recycle or repair, so much of them end up in landfills. This means a lot of reusable components or materials can’t be reused. Electronic waste, also known as e-waste, is made up of electrical or electronic items, such as appliances, computers, smartphones, televisions, cameras, toasters, and more. If you can plug it into an electrical outlet or it has circuit boards then it’s e-waste. Right to repair seeks to cut down on e-waste by allowing people to repair their devices, which extends their lifespan and reduces how often we need to replace electronics. Contrary to popular belief Right to repair did not start in the EU it started in massachussets Motor Vehicle Owners' Right to Repair Act - Wikipedia in 2012. It began with cars which is understandable.
Not everyones approach is the same: (good graphic showing the EU is not united in their approach)
What is the EU doing to push right to repair?
The EU is taking the make better recycling reuse approach which I think is a completely fair way to start tackling the issue. However it does fall fairly short of the true goals and is an inferior solution. That said the current proposed legislation by the EU I absolutely 100% support. Please pass the DSA and DMA. Ignore US companies, government and lobby groups. Strike first and strike hard.
When you well meaning good folks across the pond pass or push this. It will inevitably help the everyday American do the same. TOO long have big manufacturing and tech companies done the wrong time. Its time to participate in our systems and FORCE them to do the right thing with the most severe penalties if they cant. If that bankrupts a company I support that. Companies with bad business practices should never be allowed to continue profiting.
What is the US doing to push right to repair?
As you can see legislation is occuring in many states:
But is that the whole story of course its not. The passing through the legislature depends on a lot of circumstances such as the party in power. Majority power in the state. The states with the most likelihood to pass legislation will always be states with bipartisan support. Get out there and slap some sense into the bickering children if you can
Also in a rather based move Biden has pushed some help for consumers making decisions.
Grey states indicate states whos legislation has not yet reached the first stage and is just in the talking stages. Thats why the Orange map is misleading. You will find more information here. Professionalism/The Right to Repair - Wikibooks, open books for an open world
The bottom line is this is good for all of us. This is good for sustainable production. That should be our goal not just r2r or reducing e-waste. One of the biggest problems of our modern century is the advent of just in time logistics. Lean Six Sigma Practices have been all the rage and the pandemic smacked that down with its viral honkey chonkey donkey bahonkey and showed people why this is trully going to be the downfall of what we do if we continue on this path. I myself am getting six sigma Black Belt certified. Its not all bad but some of it in the current way it is implemented is unsustainable. Work to improve the existing system do not seek to destroy it. That is rarely ever useful. History teaches us that 10 quadrillion times over again.
Who is pushing against it? and DO NOT let them win!
Ill let you read these articles for yourselves:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-05-20/microsoft-and-apple-wage-war-on-gadget-right-to-repair-laws
Sales stats for apple:
None of these companies are going to suffer from this legislation they are just no longer going to be allowed to exploit you. Almost all of their arguments are trash and if you think this is limited to the tech world. That would be an incorrect assumption:
John deere is notorious for hurting farmers in their pocket books and they are justifiably being litigated against.
Resources:
A notice about repair manuals
If its not legal to share then please keep that on the DL and other channels. I do not want this forum thread getting in trouble legally. I want to encourage you all to treat this thread as a means to share thoughts, information, repair info, experiences, hacks, etc. Everything related to right to repair is welcome. Try not to make it a news centric post. This post should contain useful technical experimentation and exploration as well
If you have reverse engineered something to make it more sustainable I would love to know what you did it on and how you did it to the extent it can be discussed.
