IEEE Consumer Electronics Magazine - October 2015 - 124

under the DMCA, the software in that
piece of equipment belongs to a corporation-not to the hardware owner. Owners are not allowed to break digital locks
to make changes to the software on their
own hardware-not without the blessing
of the manufacturer. Not even for repair,
modification, or reuse.
As modern consumer electronics get smaller and smaller, the fixer has to rely on increasing
ingenuity and a range of cleverly selected tools and advanced disassembly techniques; others
are documented for many of today's consumer electronics devices on http://www.ifixit.com.

Fixing is an international business-in fact it is far more important both economically and
from a societal perspective in developing nations; this is where most of the e-waste from
the developed economies will end its lifecycle.

With the right facilities and equipment, most modern electronics can have their lifespan extended by
a factor of 2-5 times; in an increasingly challenged
global environment, can we afford not to repair
more of our consumer electronics products?

124 IEEE ConsumEr ElECtronICs magazInE

october 2015

to send their broken cameras off
to "official repair centers"-and
to pay whatever rate Nikon set
for the market.
Want to replace a disk drive
on an old Xbox? Well, you cannot-because it could require
tinkering with the firmware on
the console. Need to mess
around in the programming of a
tractor to troubleshoot diagnostic codes? You are not allowed.
Want to modify your smart
Keurig coffee maker so that it
will brew your favorite, offbrand coffee? Tough. Looking
to unlock your phone so you
can take it to a different carrier? Tread carefully. Because,

REPAIR AS A CONSUMER RIGHT
Maybe I am old-fashioned, but I think
that if you bought it, you own it. Locking down products consumers have
legally purchased-and limiting the
way the people can use, reuse, and
repair those products-usurps the very
notion of ownership. So two years ago,
I founded the Digital Right to Repair
Coalition with a group of repair
businesses. Our goal was to restore
ownership rights to owners of digital
equipment. We worked to pass legislation that would re-legalize cell phone
unlocking-so that owners and refurbishers could extend the life and usefulness of their phones. We testified in
front of the U.S. Copyright Office to
defend the right of owners repairing and
modifying software in game consoles
and phones, iPods, and even tractors. We
have introduced Fair Repair legislation
in Minnesota, New York, and Massachusetts that would give owners and independent repair techs access to repair
information, spare parts, and security
updates for digital products.
I advocate for Right to Repair
because I believe that people should be
able to use their stuff how they want to,
for as long as they possibly can. It is not
just a philosophy of ownership. Right to
Repair is just as tangible as it is philosophical: repair and reuse are an environmental imperative.

REPAIR AS A SOCIETAL
RESPONSIbILITy
Electronics are incredibly complex
machines. Making them requires a huge
outlay of energy and raw material-
resources we cannot completely recover
in recycling. Spurred on by the endless
refrain to upgrade "old" gadgets for new
ones, e-waste has become the world's
(continued on page 135)

http://www.ifixit.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Consumer Electronics Magazine - October 2015