Massachusetts: Speak Up For Your Right to Repair

Massachusetts: You can speak up today to expand your digital rights. Tell your lawmakers to support S. 107 (Cronin) and H. 218 (Brady)—two right to repair bills that would make repair of phones, tablets and other digital electronic equipment easier and more accessible for Massachusetts residents.

These bills have the support of leading national proponents of the right to repair. They require companies to give people access to what they need to fix their stuff by selling spare parts and special tools at “fair and reasonable terms.” They also provide all customers and third-party repair technicians access to repair information, software and the ability to apply firmware patches.

Right now, big companies do not want independent repairers to have access to these materials. Instead, these corporations want to have total control. The end result: users are disempowered, trained to go hat in hand to the Apple store just to change a battery when they should have the right to do it themselves. Independent repair shops are driven out of business. The electronic waste piles up, as users discard their devices rather than fixing them or donating them for re-use, and consumers pay the price.

Establishing a right to repair in Massachusetts makes it easier for people to fix their broken devices, helps independent businesses, and helps the environment.

Tell your lawmakers to support S. 107 and H. 218.