Right to Repair Advocating for User Friendly Tech Devices and Repair Options
Who we are
Who we are
We are people, we are repairers, we are sustainability activists, we are community.
TheRight to Repair Europecoalition represents over 100 organisations from 21 European countries. It represents environmental NGOs and repair actors such as community repair groups, social economy actors, spare parts distributors, self-repairers, repair and refurbishing businesses, and any citizen who would like to advocate for their right to repair. This is a rapidly growing movement, and its objective to make repair affordable, accessible and mainstream is aligned with the objectives of the European Green Deal and the Circular Economy Action plan. Browse all our member organisations by countryhere.
Were fighting to remove the barriers to repair our products, so they can last for longer. Why?
The problem is simple. The products we use everyday are getting harder and harder to repair. E-waste is one of the fastest growing waste streams in the world, with phone and laptops manufacturers making their products harder to fix. And its not just digital devices the amount of household appliances failing within 5 years of their purchase is also skyrocketing.
Weve had enough. On every metric emissions, social impact, waste this cant go on. So were committing to doing something about it. We want the Right to Repair.
Steering group members
ECOS is an international NGO with a network of members and experts advocating for environmentally friendly technical standards, policies and laws. We ensure the environmental voice is heard when they are developed and drive change by providing expertise to policymakers and industry players, leading to the implementation of strong environmental principles.
Based in: Belgium
The European Environmental Bureau (EEB) is Europes largest network of environmental citizens organisations with around 140 organisations in more than 30 countries.
Based in: Belgium
HOP (Halte lobsolescence programme) is a French NGO that campaigns for durable and repairable products, through awareness raising, advocacy and legal actions. It was created in 2015 to speak out for consumers and the environment in matters of durable production and consumption.
Based in: France
iFixit Europe is the free, publicly editable online repair manual for almost anything. With more than 50 000 manuals we empower 10 million monthly visitors to fix their stuff. Our mission is to empower people to fix their stuff and save money while keeping electronics out of landfills.
Based in: Germany
Active since 2015, Runder Tisch Reparaturs members come from repair industries, environmental and consumer protection organizations, science and local Initiatives. We discuss the future of repair and how we can support repair industries and consumers longing for repairable products.
Based in: Germany
The Restart Project is a people-powered social enterprise that aims to fix our relationship with electronics. We run regular Restart Parties where people teach each other how to repair their broken and slow devices. And we use the data and stories we collect to help demand better, more sustainable electronics for all.
Based in: UK
Back Market is the leading dedicated refurbished electronics marketplace. Currently operating in Europe, North America, and Asia, the companys mission is to empower people to save tech through circularity and repair. Back Market advocates for regulations that support and enable the circular economy, including Right to Repair.
Based in: France
Swappie is a European scale-up on a mission to make refurbished mainstream and the leading end-to-end online destination for buying and selling refurbished iPhones in Europe. In 2022 the company was named Europes fastest growing company according to the Financial Times. Swappie believes in a strong and independent right to repair to ensure long-lasting devices and affordable high quality repairs for all.
Based in: Finland
The F.T.C. votes to use its leverage to make it easier for consumers to repair their phones.
The Federal Trade Commission voted unanimously on Wednesday to push harder for the right of consumers to repair devices like smartphones, home appliances, cars and even farm equipment, arguing that large corporations have cost consumers by making such products harder to fix.
All five commissioners two Republicans and three Democrats voted to back a policy statement that promises to explore whether companies that make it harder for consumers to repair products are breaking antitrust or consumer protection laws, and to step up enforcement of the laws against violators.
These types of restrictions can significantly raise costs for consumers, stifle innovation, close off business opportunity for independent repair shops, create unnecessary electronic waste, delay timely repairs and undermine resiliency, said Lina Khan, the commissions chairwoman. The F.T.C. has a range of tools it can use to root out unlawful repair restrictions, and todays policy statement would commit us to move forward on this issue with new vigor.
The commissions vote on Wednesday falls in line with President Bidens policies to prioritize initiatives to increase competition between large corporations and to limit their power. In an executive order this month, Mr. Biden encouraged the commission to crack down on companies that make it harder for consumers to get equipment or electronics repaired by third-party shops. It singled out manufacturers of farming equipment the tractor manufacturer John Deere, for example that use license agreements that block farmers from repairing their tractors on their own.
Wednesdays vote was a victory for the right to repair movement, which has long been pushing for repair-friendly policies at the federal, state and local levels. Nathan Proctor, the senior director of the United States Public Interest Research Groups Right to Repair campaign, celebrated the agencys decision in a statement.
They have pledged to assist states in making right to repair improvements, and to tackle illegal behavior from manufacturers, Mr. Proctor said. The F.T.C. is no longer on the sidelines.
But TechNet, an advocacy group representing technology companies including Google and Apple, criticized the move by the commission, saying it would only jeopardize the safety of consumers.
The F.T.C.s decision to upend an effective and secure system for consumers to repair products that they rely on for their health, safety, and well-being, including phones, computers, fire alarms, medical devices, and home security systems, will have far-reaching, permanent impacts on technology and cybersecurity, Carl Holshouser, the senior vice president of TechNet, said in a statement.
It sent a report to Congress in May, titled Nixing the Fix, in which it described how companies designed products to be harder to fix and how they narrowed repair options in order to push consumers to more frequently buy new products. There is scant evidence to support manufacturers justifications for repair restrictions, the report said.
It also noted that the limitations imposed by companies harmed the consumer, especially communities of color and low-income communities. According to the report, the cost of buying a new product or the difficulty of repairing a product can fall disproportionately on small businesses owned by people of color.
Giving Canadians the right to repair empowers consumers, supports competition and benefits theenvironment
On March 28, the Canadian governments budget announcement introduced a plan to implement a right to repair for electronic devices and home appliances in 2024, alongside a new five-year tax credit worth $4.5 billion for Canadian clean tech manufacturers. The federal government will begin consultations on the plan in the summer.
The right to repair allows consumers to repair goods themselves or have them repaired by original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) or at independent repair shops. Key elements of the right is that repair manuals, tools, replacement parts and services must be available at competitive prices.
Right-to-repair movements have sprung up in the United States, Europe, South Africa, Australia and Canada, encompassing a range of products. Most familiar might be efforts to allow consumers to choose independent shops to repair their phones and computers.
But the right to repair also involves battles over who should be able to fix Internet of Things devices (all physical objects related to accessing the internet), as well as other products that function via embedded software systems, such as vehicles, agricultural equipment and medical equipment.
Discouraging self-repair
For too long the right to repair has been a casualty of the digital economy. Many manufacturers have long discouraged or outright prohibited independent repair. They do this in part by threatening penalties for copyright infringement or by voiding warranties for products repaired by independent shops or using non-OEM parts.
The corporate power to deny repair is possible because companies that control the digital hearts of software-enabled products can use copyright law to restrict their customers or third-party services from fixing these products. Today, this includes everything from laptops to refrigerators, vacuum cleaners, tractors and fitness wearables.
Identifying problems with software-enabled goods often necessitates the use of diagnostic software, while undertaking repairs often requires copying all or part of the product software. However, manufacturers licensing agreements typically prohibit any actions, including repair, that copy or alter the products software.
The manufacturers contend that such actions constitute copyright infringement. Companies typically cite this provision to prohibit any repairs undertaken by individuals not licensed by the original manufacturer. Companies may not actually sue customers for copyright infringement, but they may target independent repair shops.
Such tactics may discourage self-repair or the use of independent service people.
Consumer pushback
Questions of who can repair products and under what circumstances are fundamental to the nature of ownership and control. In fact, control over intangible forms of knowledge such as intellectual property and software-enabled goods is central to exerting power in the knowledge economy.
The right-to-repair movement can be understood as a consumer pushback against the commodification of knowledge and a battle over who should be allowed to control and use knowledge to repair, tinker or innovate and in whose interests.
Battles over the right to repair have particular relevance for Canada. Major manufacturers, often headquartered in the U.S. or Europe, set rules regarding repair that privilege their business models. These rules favour their branded suppliers and authorized repair technicians to maximize control over repair services.
This not only shuts out Canadian third-party businesses that supply replacement parts and repair services, but also disadvantages Canadian consumers.
Effective policy development
As the Canadian government prepares for consultations on implementing the right to repair, I offer several suggestions:
First, policymakers should build upon right-to-repair efforts elsewhere, particularly Australia, the European Union and the U.S.
Australia appears to be moving toward a right to repair. Its consumer watchdog agency, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, studied the effects of restrictive repair practices on the agricultural machinery and the after-sales market in that country in 2020.
The European Parliament adopted resolutions on the right to repair in 2020 and 2021, and is planning a legislative proposal on the matter by mid-2023, building upon several years of working to make manufacturing and product design more eco-friendly.
In the U.S., President Joe Biden strengthened the case for right to repair in July 2021 with an executive order supporting competition. Recently, attorneys general from 28 states called on lawmakers to advance a right to repair federally.
Second, its important to effectively counter industry opposition, which has been successful in defeating right-to-repair legislation. Such legislation continues to face stiff industry opposition at the state level in the U.S.
Big companies in the technology, vehicle and agricultural industries have long lobbied against the right to repair. They argue that repairing or tinkering with their software-enabled products raises potentially serious security and safety complications.
Though such concerns may be valid in some cases (particularly when dealing with safety-critical goods such as medical devices), these are exceptions. In many cases, however, independent repair by appropriately trained technicians can be a safe, viable alternative to manufacturers authorized repairs.
Third, policymakers should ensure broad engagement with and representation from the people who are most affected by restrictive repair policies. These include small farmers, independent repairers, small retailers of refurbished goods, people who patronize second-hand or reseller stores, and those in the aftermarket industry selling third-party parts.
Input is also needed from people living outside major population centres who must travel to authorized repair shops or otherwise incur costs in time and money in receiving service.
Fourth, its time to recognize that the right to repair has benefits beyond consumer rights. Repair bolsters secondary markets, including second-hand stores and resellers that provide their customers with viable used goods, which are important money-savers for economically marginalized communities.
Repair also helps decrease the environmental burden of modern consumerism. This problem is particularly acute in the manufacture of many electronic technologies once these products no longer function, they are dumped as e-waste, often in developing countries.
Read more: Beyond recycling: solving e-waste problems must include designers and consumers
Finally, policymakers should consider a broad interpretation of the right to repair. This could include requiring manufacturers to make available at competitive prices the necessary items for repair, including diagnostic software and replacement parts. It could restrict manufacturers practice of planned obsolescence, that is, letting functional goods be rendered inoperative by withholding essential software updates.
The federal government is offering Canadians a chance to create a right to repair. We should seize the opportunity.
