if you buy something and it breaks do
you want to be able to fix it yourself
or get it fixed by someone that's not
the manufacturer
well you can't right now because
manufacturers have a monopoly on the
repair market which is exactly why we're
fighting for right to repair legislation
so everyone can have access to the parts
the tools and the information that they
need to be able to fix their stuff
luckily 2019 was a record year for right
to repair so here my five favorite right
to repair moments of the last year first
right to repair when global not only did
20 states introduce repair bills but for
the first time ever Canada introduced
one - and it was all because of a
Canadian politicians daughter who broke
her beloved smartphone and when Dad went
to fix it he couldn't believe that
Samsung charged more for the repair than
buying a new device but really Europe is
the big repair winner of 2019 because
they actually got a form of legislation
passed called the eco design directive
and that's gonna force manufacturers to
make spare parts available for common
appliances for up to a decade second we
also saw two presidential candidates
endorsed right to repair both Elizabeth
Warren and Bernie Sanders our backing
right to repair as a part of their
agricultural platform so that farmers
can fix their John Deere tractors
themselves third the military joined the
fight this year when a logistics officer
in the US Marine Corps wrote an op-ed in
The New York Times
begging for the right to repair she's
not allowed to fix a broken generator on
the field even though she knows exactly
how to do it because manufacturer
warranties and service contracts fourth
Congress stepped in and started
investigating apples anti-competitive
repair behavior looking specifically at
the restrictions on third-party repair
and they even asked Tim Apple to
surrender his emails and I saved the
best for last because it involves baby
Yoda just stay with me here
so in episode 7 of the Mandalorian kill
had access to what he needed to repair
and reprogram the droid IG 11 to protect
baby Oda and he was able to do that
without needing permission from the
manufacturer
so I think it's safe to say that without
right to repair baby Yoda would be dead
so why don't we have rightt repair yet
because some politicians think that it's
unnecessary saying that in the near
future cell phones will be throwaways
and everyone will just get a new one
which is exactly what Senator Jon Pitou
succeed to kill the right to repair bill
in New Hampshire also manufacturers like
Nikon are shutting down independent
repair shops and we can't do anything
about it
in fact Nikon is about to shut down
their last dozen authorized repair
centers so if your camera breaks you'll
probably be mailing it in so what are we
gonna do well just like the Rebel
Alliance we're gonna ban together and
fight back but we need your help you
might even say you're our only hope
so please call your legislator break
them send them an owl just let them know
that you want the right to fix your
stuff and if you want more details you
can head on over to repair org to learn
how to get involved