Discover and read the best of Twitter Threads about #R2R
Most recents (8)
The #GOP, a coalition between Big Business farmers and turkeys who'll vote for Christmas (Red Scare cowards, apocalyptic white nationalists, religious fanatics) has fallen to its bizarre, violent radical wing, obsessed with policies that are irrelevant to most Americans.
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If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this thread to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:
pluralistic.net/2023/06/16/tha…
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pluralistic.net/2023/06/16/tha…
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As @owillis writes, the views of the radical right - which are also the policies of the GOP - are wildly out of step with the US political view:
oliverexplains.com/p/conservative…
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oliverexplains.com/p/conservative…
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Last week, a seeming miracle came to pass: @JohnDeere, the #BigAg #monopolist that - along with @Apple - has led the Axis of Evil that killed, delayed and sabotaged dozens of #RightToRepair laws, sued for peace. 1/
They announced a Memorandum of Understanding with the American Farm Bureau Federation to make it easier for farmers to fix their own tractors:
fb.org/files/AFBF_Joh…
This is a move that's both badly needed and long overdue. 2/
fb.org/files/AFBF_Joh…
This is a move that's both badly needed and long overdue. 2/
Deere abuses copyright law to force farmers to pay for official repairs - even when the farmer does the repair. That's possible thanks to a practice called #VINLocking, in which engine parts come with #DRM that prevents the tractor from recognizing. 3/
You know the joke.
Office manager: "$75 just to kick the photocopier?"
Photocopier technician: "No, it's $5 to kick the photocopier and $70 to know where to kick it." 1/
Office manager: "$75 just to kick the photocopier?"
Photocopier technician: "No, it's $5 to kick the photocopier and $70 to know where to kick it." 1/
If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this thread to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:
pluralistic.net/2022/10/18/adm… 2/
pluralistic.net/2022/10/18/adm… 2/
The trustbusters in the Biden administration know *precisely* where to kick the photocopier, and they're kicking the shit out of it. You *love* to see it. 3/
John Deere is justifiably notorious for its campaign to block farmers from fixing their own agricultural equipment. Deer is #RightToRepair's archnemesis. No amount of misleading feel-good of its heavy hand on farmers' tractors forever can change that.
doctorow.medium.com/about-those-ki… 1/
doctorow.medium.com/about-those-ki… 1/
If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this thread to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:
pluralistic.net/2022/05/31/dea… 2/
pluralistic.net/2022/05/31/dea… 2/
There are many reasons to worry about Deere's assertion of a monopoly over farmers' ability to maintain their vital equipment. 3/
This week on my podcast, I read my @Medium column, "About Those Killswitched Ukrainian Tractors," in which I am a buzzkill about that feel-good story of a Ukrainian John Deere dealership bricking $5m worth of tractors stolen by Russian looters:
doctorow.medium.com/about-those-ki… 1/
doctorow.medium.com/about-those-ki… 1/
If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this thread to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:
pluralistic.net/2022/05/20/sel… 2/
pluralistic.net/2022/05/20/sel… 2/
In case you missed the underlying story, here's a quick recap. Russian looters, abetted by the Russian military, stole $5m worth of tractors and combines from a Deere dealership in Melitopol, Ukraine. 3/
The Biden administration teased a sweeping antimonopoly executive order last week, including a #RightToRepair provision that was to be aimed at agricultural equipment - a direct assault on the corporate power of repair archnemesis @johndeere. It
pluralistic.net/2021/07/07/ins…
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pluralistic.net/2021/07/07/ins…
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(If you'd like an unrolled version of this thread to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:)
pluralistic.net/2021/07/10/unn…
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pluralistic.net/2021/07/10/unn…
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But it turns out that the executive order goes far beyond tractors and other agricultural equipment - it also applies to consumer electronics, including mobile phones, and this is a HUGE FUCKING DEAL.
vice.com/en/article/y3d…
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vice.com/en/article/y3d…
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#RightToRepair is a no-brainer. You - not manufacturers - should have the right to decide whom you trust to fix your stuff, even (especially) when that stuff is "smart" and an unscrupulous repair could create unquantifiable "cyber-risk."
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And yet...DOZENS of state #R2R bills were defeated in 2018, thanks to an unholy coalition of Big Ag, Big Tech, and consumer electronics monopolists like @WahlGrooming. That supervillain gang reassembled to fight and kill still more bills in 2020/1.
pluralistic.net/2021/05/26/nix…
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pluralistic.net/2021/05/26/nix…
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It's part of the long trend in which all levels of government make policy based on what serves the interests of the rich and powerful, not the people they serve.
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2018 was almost the year we won the #RightToRepair.
Instead, 2018 turned out to be the year we lost #R2R: 20 bills defeated in 20 state houses, and it was mostly @apple's fault.
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Instead, 2018 turned out to be the year we lost #R2R: 20 bills defeated in 20 state houses, and it was mostly @apple's fault.
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Apple has a problem. As CEO Tim Cook warned his investors at the conclusion of his company's repair-killing lobbying spree, Apple's profits depend on people throwing away their devices, not fixing them.
apple.com/newsroom/2019/…
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apple.com/newsroom/2019/…
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By monopolizing repairs, Apple doesn't just get to gouge you on parts and service - the real action is in pronouncing your device DOA, beyond repair. Then you have to buy another one.
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