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The iPhone 14 is more repairable too!
Did you forget there was another iPhone 14 coming out? We don’t blame you. The 14 Plus launches today, weeks after the 14 and 14 Pro. Whether delayed by ongoing supply-chain issues, or strategically withheld to goose Pro sales isn’t really important. The good news is that the iPhone 14 Plus follows in the repairable footsteps of the basic 14, spurning the outmoded, less-repairable 14 Pro form-factor. (iFixit.com)
Canadian Copyright Digital Lock Rules Finally Open to Reform?
One of the biggest differences between Canada and the U.S. is that the U.S. conducts a review every three years to determine whether new exceptions to a general prohibition on circumventing a digital locks are needed. Canada has no such system as the government instead provided assurances that it could address new exceptions through a regulation-making power. In the decade since the law has been in effect, successive Canadian governments have never done so.
But now, two private members bills are working their way through the House of Commons that provide some hope of change. First, Bill S-244 on the right of repair. Introduced by Liberal MP Wilson Miao in February, the bill this week passed second reading unanimously and has been referred to the Industry committee for further study. The lack of a right of repair exception in Canadian digital lock rules has hindered both consumers and Canadian innovation significantly, leaving consumers unable to repair their electronic devices and farmers often locked out of their farm equipment. After farmers protested against similar copyright restrictions, the U.S. established specific exceptions permitting digital locks to be circumvented to allow repair of software-enabled devices.
Given the impact on consumers, the agricultural sector, and the environment, a provision that explicitly permits circumvention for purposes of the right of repair in Canada is long overdue. (MichaelGeist.ca)
Putting the right to repair back in your hands
Given the number of electronics most of us own, cracked screens, dead batteries and any number of unexplained malfunctions are a frustrating but inevitable part of life. That frustration has been compounded by the difficulty of getting them fixed.
“There’s a whole lot of barriers that have been put in place that mean we can’t repair our devices as we used to,” says Leanne Wiseman, law professor at Griffith University. “As consumers, we’ve lost the ability to really exercise the rights of ownership over the things we own. (Moneymag.com)
Academics call on consumers to repair clothing
Academics at the University of Alberta, in Canada, have encouraged consumers to make or pay for clothing repairs in a bid to address the fast fashion cycle.
It comes as an online survey of more than 500 North American shoppers indicated that Generation Z consumers in particular would rather buy a replacement garment than pay for repairs.
This cycle, clothing and textile scientist Rachel McQueen believes, is creating an “environmental disaster”. “Instead of paying money to get it repaired, some people say, ‘I might as well just buy something new’. That’s a mentality that really needs to shift.” (Ecotextile.com)
Federal Trade Commission Focused on Right to Repair Restrictions
In her September 20, 2022 statement before the Senate Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights, Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) Chairwoman Lina Kahn emphasized the FTC’s continued work combating repair restrictions that allegedly harm consumers, explaining that the FTC is “prioritizing action against business practices that unlawfully restrict consumers’ ability to repair their products, costing them more over the long term.” (JDSupra.com)