Your right to fix that broken phone

When we think of trust-busting in the 21st century, most people’s minds leap to the federal government breaking up Big Tech. Indeed, companies like Facebook, Amazon and Google have gobbled up other firms, dominating the market and consolidating profits by killing, copying or acquiring competitors; we need strong federal action to break up their power. But there’s also urgent antitrust legislation sweeping the states, with 27 currently considering some form of “right to repair.” The legislation would give power back to consumers, local repair businesses and farmers. It’s about time we repaired our statute books.

Here’s the problem: Companies from Apple to John Deere have created systems whereby repairs can only be done by the manufacturer or an approved third party. As a result, consumers often feel forced to replace broken but fixable products because repairs are prohibitively expensive. And when they do get a repair, they don’t have the choice to support their local tinkerers and community stores, or figure it out themselves.

People waste up to $40 billion every year buying new devices while the companies keep an iron grip on the market. And because they control the process, they often have little pressure to get things done quickly. American farmers end up wasting precious time during the harvest, waiting for a manufacturer to send a technician to service their broken-down tractors, milking machines or other large investments.

This abuse of power is a killer for small businesses, the environment and consumer rights. That’s why a key step in the antitrust movement is breaking up the monopoly on repair. The Digital Fair Repair Act in front of lawmakers in Albany this session will do just that, by requiring electronic companies to provide diagnostic and repair information and release proprietary parts to consumer and local repair businesses.

Unsurprisingly, Apple is one of the worst culprits. Consumers used to be able to open phones without using tools to replace batteries. In 2011, the tech giant introduced five-pointed screws for iPhones that could not be opened with a regular screwdriver, requiring a special screwdriver only available at Apple or Apple-certified manufacturers. With each new model, Apple is making its products harder to take apart and repair yourself, or even take to a small repair shop. According to technologist Hugh Jeffreys, taking apart newer models like the iPhone 12 requires four different kinds of screwdrivers.

Companies aren’t just designing products that are harder to fix. They’re also bullying consumers with warnings that warranties will be voided if they attempt to fix their products by themselves.

When your “check engine” light appears in your car, you can go to a mechanic or tinker with it yourself after buying the equipment and parts, rather than going to the dealer — though as automobiles have become more computerized following the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990, even mechanics are having a harder time accessing the proprietary pieces required to fix cars.

The only reason that smartphones, tractors or laptops are treated differently is because companies like Apple, Toyota, Facebook and Verizon are spending big to defeat right-to-repair legislation. In 2018, those companies spent more than $100,000 in just two months fighting New York’s Right to Repair legislation, according to filings to the state’s ethics watchdog.

Making products nearly impossible to fix also hurts small business owners of repair shops across the country — and in New York City, those shops are predominantly owned by immigrants and people of color. Farmers have been struggling for a long time too, operating on small profit margins, squeezed out by Big Agriculture — but companies like John Deere or AGCO Corp. are making it that much harder for them to get by when they can only get their machines fixed in one place.

After COVID, the need to support the right to repair is even more urgent. In New York City, more small businesses shut their doors permanently than in any other American city: Between March and August of last year, more than 2,800 small businesses permanently closed, according to Yelp.

The bottom line is this: We all lose out big-time when companies can rig the system to their advantage and dictate who can repair their products. It’s plainly wrong, if not outright illegal under existing antitrust law.

Trustbusting isn’t just enforcing existing laws, it also includes passing new laws to address new methods of devious uses of control. New York State can free consumers now by passing right-to-repair legislation. And state lawmakers can show they’re not scared of Big Tech and Big Agriculture. It’s the right thing to do for the marketplace, consumers and small businesses.