Thread by @doctorow

Today, @APerzanowski publishes "The Right to Repair: Reclaiming Control Over the Things We Own," from @CambridgeUP. It's a fitting followup to "The End of Ownership," the book he and @lawgeek published in 2016.

cambridge.org/us/academic/su… 1/

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/2022/01/29/pla… 2/

The #RightToRepair movement has gained momentum over the past decade, cutting through questions of IP law, environmental survivability, consumer culture, tinkerers' rights, consumer protection, fraud, information security and more. 3/

Repair is simple: who gets to fix stuff, and under what circumstances? But *preventing* repair is decidedly complex: for manufacturers to assert the right - or even the duty! - to force you to use their repair services (or throw away your stuff) requires serious skullduggery. 4/

The arguments against repair aren't new - for centuries, manufacturers have claimed that letting you fix your stuff, or replace the original parts with third-party alternatives, or refurbish something someone else threw away.

Historically, these attempts have been rebuffed. 5/

America's state religion is worship of private property rights, and that means that arguments like, "I bought it, I own it, I get to fix it" carried a lot of weight. 6/

But the digital, corporate, neoliberal and neofeudal age has given monopolists a whole new suite of tools to dominate repairs, from claiming to be defending cybersecurity to claims of defending patents to claims of defending our safety. 7/

Claiming "IP rights' muddied the property question, allowing manufacturers to claim that they were defending their trademarks, patents and copyrights - not sabotaging their customers' attempts to get the use they paid for our of their purchases. 8/

And despite laws protecting purchasers from dirty tricks - like voiding warranties in retaliation for independent repair - the authorities have shown little enthusiasm for upholding the public's right to repair. 9/

When cases *are* brought over repair-thwarting scams, judges are apt to tie themselves in logical knots seeking a way to get companies off the hook, in decisions that impose an obligation for all society to arrange itself to the convenience of manufacturers' shareholders. 10/

With a series of short, punchy chapters, Perzanowski lays out the ancient, noble and necessary case for repair - a practice as old as the first resharpened stone axe - and proceeds to dissect each of the idiotic pretenses used to block it. 11/

From IP law to trade law, from consumer protection to consumer safety, from cybersecurity to unfair competition, Perzanowski demolishes the corporate argument for filling our planet up with immortal garbage in the name of consumerism. 12/

If you're seeking a deeper understanding of how Right to Repair has been stopped, and why it must be defended, this is an essential text. 13/