Colorado Denied Its Citizens the Right-to-Repair After Riveting Testimony:
Colorado’s proposed right-to-repair law was simple and clear. At 11 pages, the legislation spent most of its word count defining terms, but the gist was simple: It would let people fix their own stuff without needing to resort to the manufacturer and force said manufacturer to support people who want to fix stuff.
“For the purpose of providing services for digital electronic equipment sold or used in this state, an original equipment manufacturer shall, with fair and reasonable terms and cost, make available to an independent repair provider or owner of the manufacturer’s equipment any documentation, parts, embedded software, firmware, or tools that are intended for use with the digital electronic equipment, including updates to documentation, information, or embedded software,” the proposed bill said.
Right-to-repair is often spoken of in the context of broken phone screens, but it doesn’t just affect people’s personal devices. Agricultural and medical equipment are increasingly impossible to fix because manufacturers want to maintain a monopoly on repairing the product. These issues can make the right-to-repair literally life and death.
The Colorado House Business Affairs & Labor committee met to consider the law on March 25. Twelve legislators voted to indefinitely postpone considering the bill. Only one voted for it. “I still have a lot of questions. I still have a lot of concerns,” Rep. Monica Duran (D) said at the end of the committee hearing. She voted no on the bill.
[...] It was a stunning statement given just how many people testified on behalf of the right-to-repair legislation and how few questions the committee asked them.
Here's just the first of the many cases cited:
Kenny Maestas, who uses a wheelchair, drove this home in his testimony before the committee. Maestas spent a long time in the hospital and when he came home, his mobility was restricted. An electric wheelchair helped him get around, but it was broken. The right arm of the chair was broken and the battery would no longer hold a charge.
“Both my son and brothers were capable and ready to do whatever needed to get done...I called on the 14th of December,” he told the committee. “I was told the next time a tech would be in my area would be the 18th of January. As a rural resident of Colorado I’m used to a regional delay, but 35 days seemed excessive.”
Maestas said that the electric wheelchair company had the battery and spare parts on file to fix his chair, but the company’s procedure required a technician to first inspect the chair before making a repair. It was another 28 days after the tech first arrived before Maestas was mobile again. It was more than 60 days before his chair was working again.
“It’s never appropriate to make a human being with a critical care need wait over two months for a repair that could have been completed in two days,” he said. The committee asked Maestas no questions.
The story concludes:
[...] Bill sponsor Brianna Titone (D) told Motherboard she plans to keep fighting.
“I was particularly frustrated by a committee member who said they had ‘so many unanswered questions’ yet didn't ask any during the committee,” she said in an email.
[...] Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Missouri, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Oklahoma, Oregon, and Washington are also considering right-to-repair laws. Colorado’s fight is a preview for what to expect as legislators prepare to consider those bills.
Related Stories
President Joe Biden's latest executive order is a huge win for right to repair
A sweeping executive order aimed at promoting economic competition and signed Friday by President Joe Biden called on the Federal Trade Commission to institute rules to curb anticompetitive restrictions that limit consumers' ability to repair gadgets on their own terms.
Tucked into the executive order that covered 72 initiatives to promote competition in the US economy, Biden specifically asked the FTC to crack down on "unfair anticompetitive restrictions on third-party repair or self-repair of items, such as the restrictions imposed by powerful manufacturers that prevent farmers from repairing their own equipment."
BIDEN SIGNS EXECUTIVE ORDER ON RIGHT TO REPAIR! (11m48s video)
Many other items besides Right to Repair were covered in the executive order. See, for example: Ars Technica.
Previously: Colorado Denied its Citizens the Right-to-Repair After Riveting Testimony
Apple, Microsoft, and Google Team Up to Block Right to Repair Laws
Related: Right to Repair Rules Will Extend Lifespan of Products, UK Government Says
(Score: 3, Touché) by crafoo on Wednesday April 07 2021, @04:52PM (49 children)
Everyone knows now that the voting populace will just do what they are told and maybe grumble a little. Expect more of this. Or start out-spending the corporations.
(Score: 2, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 07 2021, @05:27PM (17 children)
It is difficult to outspend the megacorporations we have nowadays.
Rope is still pretty cheap, though.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 07 2021, @06:10PM (16 children)
Exactly. They only respect power. Money can buy power, but it's not the only way. Politicians need to fear The People more than they fear The Suits.
(Score: 2, Touché) by Runaway1956 on Wednesday April 07 2021, @06:13PM (15 children)
Ohhhh, but, INSURRECTION!!!!
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 07 2021, @06:21PM (10 children)
Yes, it was insurrection, and no it wasn't about getting power to the people but installing a rightwing dictator that would take away even more freedoms. Or did you not pay attention to the things Cheat'olini said and did? And no, losing an election to a moderate Republican is not a valid reason to jump to the ammo box solution you traitor.
(Score: 3, Offtopic) by Runaway1956 on Wednesday April 07 2021, @06:35PM (9 children)
Let's go back to spontaneous rallies for one candidate around the country, featuring thousands and even tens of thousands of supporters. The other candidate couldn't must a dozen people in any given place.
Go ahead and make excuses for your version of reality. I'm not buying it.
(Score: 5, Informative) by Pslytely Psycho on Wednesday April 07 2021, @10:14PM (6 children)
Completely irrelevant. One parties insane public worship of a singular psychopath who's viewpoints and morals are in direct contrast to their own stated goals while excusing his behavior is just weird.
81,268,924 however, is relevent.
Go bow beneath your golden idol.
We remember your psychotic screed:
"Yes, I'd rather see twenty million dead liberals lying in the streets, than to see their progressive heros taking over this country. And, I'll willingly sacrifice five million dead conservatives and independents to put a stop to the progressives. "
Sums you up pretty well.
Alex Jones lawyer inspires new TV series: CSI Moron Division.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Azuma Hazuki on Wednesday April 07 2021, @11:25PM (5 children)
Looks like the decision to blockquote and journal that long screed of his paid off! Thank you for quoting it, and please spread it around and use it lots every time this revanchist nutbar starts foaming at the mouth! It's time more people knew what they were dealing with up front here...
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Pslytely Psycho on Thursday April 08 2021, @12:48AM
Yes it did.
Notice too how he's willing to sacrifice others for his goal, but not himself.
Fucking coward.
Alex Jones lawyer inspires new TV series: CSI Moron Division.
(Score: 0, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 08 2021, @02:30AM (3 children)
You act like that is some sort of outrageous quote.
It's a simple matter of supporting the country. If you don't support the country, you have many others to choose from. Go. For as long as you stay here, you have a duty to support the country.
People who actually like the USA have no where else to go. We're stuck here fighting to keep turds out of the punch bowl.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 08 2021, @06:02AM (2 children)
Desiring to murder your fellow citizens over political differences is not "supporting the country" except in wacko white supremacist land.
(Score: 2) by shortscreen on Thursday April 08 2021, @04:58PM (1 child)
Interesting. So would you be opposed to, or in favor of the actions of a fellow named Abe Lincoln?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday April 09 2021, @04:33AM
Lincoln responded to an attack on an army fort.
(Score: 5, Informative) by Tork on Wednesday April 07 2021, @10:27PM
FTFY.
🏳️🌈 Proud Ally 🏳️🌈
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 07 2021, @11:33PM
Huh
"I never liked the guy"
Followed immediately by
"ZOMG TRUMP SO MUCH MOAR POPLAR!"
You are a dullard my boy, and a nazi supporting one at that!
(Score: 2) by Tork on Wednesday April 07 2021, @06:30PM
🏳️🌈 Proud Ally 🏳️🌈
(Score: 5, Insightful) by DannyB on Wednesday April 07 2021, @08:37PM (1 child)
Here's the thing. People won't actually vote these people out. How did they get in power? And we're talking state legislators here. Not federal.
But if people get radicalized with a lie, told by the president, backed up by zero evidence, litigated in 60 cases in the hands of 80 judges, including republican judges, even Trump judges, then they will rise up and try to overthrow the government. And even literally lynch their own VP who they voted for -- over something that he doesn't even have the power to do! (specifically pick the next president) What is poor Mike Pence to do? He doesn't have the power to pick the next president, that is a Trump lie. But people wanted to hang him over something he has no control over but merely presides over.
If people would rise up half as much on real factual problems such as Right to Repair as they do over fantastical election fraud fantasies, I might have a lot more sympathy.
It is interesting how many of those poor souls now arrested realize and have admitted that they were duped. It's sad. Those are the ones I feel some sympathy for. They drank the kool aid, now realize it was a mistake. Trump didn't even give them a pardon.
The lower I set my standards the more accomplishments I have.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 08 2021, @02:52PM
Instead of Right to Repair they needed to call it War on Sexy Parts on TV and Save Christian Values OMFG!!
(Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Wednesday April 07 2021, @11:23PM
Context, Runaway. Context. The AC who replied to you earlier said it better than I was going to, so I'll just remind you that you have a serious problem with removing events from their context and comparing them in vacuum. Reality does not work this way.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Socrastotle on Wednesday April 07 2021, @06:18PM (25 children)
It doesn't matter if you out-spend the corporation on any given bill. The reasons the politicians are total sell outs is because in the longrun the corporation will always be there for them. They'll fund all of their runs, they'll wine them and dine them to the extent they can wiggle around the law, and then once they leave office they'll be set for a nice fat "consulting" gig where the real payout awaits, and all 100% legal. And not only is their the carrot, but there's also the stick. As mergers and acquisitions gradually grow to create "The One United Corporation of the United States", special interests are extremely incestuous. Don't do what the corporation wants and expect them to do everything they can to kill your next run, block your fund raising efforts, actively support your opponent, and if you've especially pissed them off - even start getting their media outlets (which are so trendy to own now a days: Disney - ABC, Comcast - NBC, AT&T - CNN, etc, etc) to bash you endlessly.
Private citizens with some sort of grass foots fund raising is just a joke compared to these forces. The only clean option is to start electing politicians whom are effectively anti-politicians. And that's hard to do, because the one and only thing politicians are good at is convincing people to vote for them - and deflecting any and all blame away from themselves, at least on the macro level. So you don't need to convince the informed, educated, populate to vote against the establishment - but rather the guys who know next to nothing and vote based on the casual perusal of corporate media as their main source of infotainment.
Democracy doesn't die in darkness. It dies in stupidity and myopia. And we're there.
(Score: 3, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 07 2021, @09:15PM (21 children)
Oh come on. The USA elected ONE anti-politician and then collectively lost their fucking minds over him. Point out a single bad presidential action that Trump took - you can't. That's a phenomenal record.
Yet the media and establishment have convinced more than half the electorate that he was literally Hitler.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Tork on Wednesday April 07 2021, @10:30PM (2 children)
He infected a number of generals at the Pentagon with COVID via dipshittery.
He performed his dipshittery in front of cameras and on Twitter. You dudes had to work a LOT harder to defend Trump than you did Bush because of that.
🏳️🌈 Proud Ally 🏳️🌈
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 08 2021, @01:45AM (1 child)
You say that like it's a bad thing.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 08 2021, @02:57PM
Only if the other side does it.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Pslytely Psycho on Wednesday April 07 2021, @10:34PM (15 children)
"Point out a single bad presidential action that Trump took - you can't."
The wall.
Diverting money from more important projects to the wall.
The tax cut for the wealthy.
The handling of the COVID 19 crisis.
Pulling us out of the Paris Climate accord.
Pulling us out of the Iran agreement.
Alienating our allies.
The trade war with China.
Abandoning our allies (Kurds) in the field.
Longest government shutdown in history.
Taking credit for Obama's 2014 Veterans Choice act.
30,000+ verified lies.
Claiming he was handed a bad economy and fixed it.
Holding up disaster funds in Washington state because he was having a hissy fit over Inslee.
Lying about Covid.
Playing more golf than Obama, while claiming he wouldn't have time.
8+ hours of 'executive time' every day (read watch TV and rage on twitter)
Dishonoring a Gold Star family.
Dishonoring our service members.
Oh, you only asked for ONE.......
Alex Jones lawyer inspires new TV series: CSI Moron Division.
(Score: 0, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 07 2021, @10:56PM (8 children)
You believe everything you read don't you?
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Tork on Wednesday April 07 2021, @11:26PM (1 child)
🏳️🌈 Proud Ally 🏳️🌈
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 07 2021, @11:38PM
Remember these idiots were told not to believe what they see and hear, so they truly think every bad thing about dumpo is a lie even when Fox reports it. It is very scary to think people would buy into such a shitty cult so easily. Or they are just trolls hoping to annoy liberals, but it is quite fun to recount dumpo's misdeeds so they fail there too.
(Score: 5, Touché) by Azuma Hazuki on Wednesday April 07 2021, @11:43PM (5 children)
So those aren't true then? You dispute it, so back your counterclaim up.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Tork on Wednesday April 07 2021, @11:48PM
🏳️🌈 Proud Ally 🏳️🌈
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 08 2021, @01:51AM (3 children)
Everything on that list except the one about the Kurds is either vague or a value judgement.
Betraying the Kurds was bad, but he was just the latest in a long line of Presidents to do that. They have all been shitting on the Kurds since the first Gulf War.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 08 2021, @03:26AM (2 children)
Yeah? And who are the "Kurds"? Some kind or rare little cherub worth spilling American blood? You think they won't slice your throat at the drop of a hat?
(Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 08 2021, @06:08AM (1 child)
Glad to know your version of the US is one where we don't keep our word and betray allies when politically convenient. That isn't the US I grew up to believe in, though over time I've realized it was only ever a goal to strive for. Now we have the ancestors of immigrants such as yourself committing treason against their own country while spewing naked xenophobia. Gross.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 11 2021, @02:55AM
allies please! You know what they told the kurds? "Join us, or die". They were fucked from the beginning. You grew up believing in shameless propaganda
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 08 2021, @04:34AM (2 children)
The one single bad presidential action: bump stock ban
The wall is of utmost importance. Half the illegals come via hopping the border. Those are the people who are unable to obtain even a tourist or farm worker visa because they have criminal records. Money was not diverted from more important projects because such projects do not exist and haven't existed for 75 years.
There was a tax cut for most tax payers. It does expire for the middle class, for annoying constitutional reasons, but republicans made an offer to prevent the expiration. (see the Bernie Sanders and Ted Cruz exchange on Twitter) The similar situation with Bush tax cuts ended with the middle class tax cuts being extended, so this was a reasonable hope. Now that democrats have complete domination, we can see that they truly are uninterested in helping the middle class. Democrats are keeping the tax cuts for the rich, of course.
Handling of the COVID 19 crisis was done very well. Trump shut down China travel immediately. Remember that democrats opposed that; clearly they wanted a viral disaster to unseat the president.
Pulling out of the Paris Climate accord is another thing done to make America great. Why do you hate America? That agreement was just a way to shovel money from the USA to other nations, who would all be permitted to dramatically increase emissions. It was a plan to hobble to USA.
Pulling us out of the Iran agreement was fine. That was a really foul agreement. No, it didn't bring peace and harmony.
Alienating out allies mostly didn't happen, and some "allies" are sometimes worth alienating. The job of the president isn't to unconditionally kiss European ass. At times Trump applied pressure, and foreigners bitched about it. Oh well. Trump did great for the USA.
The trade war with China has been going on for decades. You hadn't noticed? It's still a war even if you don't return fire. We call that "losing". I prefer winning. FYI, an analysis of the tariffs by the Europeans showed that China was paying more than 80% of them, via lowered prices. Prices had to be lowered to keep factories from going idle and then failing to pay back loans. The technical reason that China paid over 80% of the tariffs is "elasticity of supply" and "elasticity of demand" for the countries involved. The tax on transactions will change the price signal; it does not matter which party hands over the cash.
I wouldn't call a bunch of literally communist Kurds our "allies". In any case, abandoning them brought more peace.
That government shutdown might be something to be proud of. When shut down, the government doesn't do as much awful shit. Credit goes to the democrats though, who refused to cooperate with out president.
Taking credit for anything Obama did is fair play, since Obama took credit for the first 3 years of Trump's amazing economy.
30,000+ verified sarcasm is fine. Trump didn't lie in any meaningful way.
He was handed a bad economy, and he did fix it. He deregulated, wiping out 2.5 regulations for each that was created.
Washington state does not need disaster funds.
Fauci lied about Covid. (no you don't need a mask, masks are useless for normal people) China lied about Covid. (totally under control and it came from the US military)
Playing golf is less of a big deal if you OWN THE DAMN COURSE. Trump mainly played at his house, which happens to be at his golf resort club. Trump was also doing legitimate things like negotiating with Xi.
8+ hours of 'executive time' to fuck his supermodel wife is fine with me.
Being a "Gold Star family" doesn't exempt you from being a piece of shit that earns dishonor.
Dishonoring our service members didn't happen. That story is made-up shit, coldly calculated to affect an election.
(Score: 0, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 08 2021, @05:28AM
“Why should I go to that cemetery? It’s filled with losers.”
“That guy is smart. Why did he join the military?”
“Nobody wants to see [wounded veterans].”
And the one that may have cost him the election, "I like people who weren’t captured.”
(Score: 2) by Reziac on Friday April 09 2021, @12:33AM
In hindsight, I'm not so sure about the bump stock ban... because that was overturned by the 6th Circuit, which makes it that much harder to re-institute such a ban. And no doubt that possibility was discussed before the ban.
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2021/mar/25/bump-stocks-not-machine-guns-and-not-subject-atf-b/ [washingtontimes.com]
And there is no Alkibiades to come back and save us from ourselves.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 08 2021, @05:39AM (1 child)
OK now that you have established that you are good at lists, how about a list
of Biden's misdeeds?
How come its so difficult to understand Democrook vs Republocrook?
None of these jerks are gonna help you.
Break the stranglehold of the duopoly
...
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 08 2021, @01:50PM
Before you get too uppity about going to zealous extremes to defend a political figure... there haven't been waves of people braving a pandemic wearing blue hats. Objectively you guys go to much further extremes to defend Trump.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday April 09 2021, @08:58AM
He promised wall. Not being a Democrat is not a fuck up. Not doing what was promised is. My god how deep is your head inside your ass? Don't answer it. And trade war with China was not bad it was late and should have happened 20 years ago. While Hillary Clinton bombed Libya and Bush bombed Iraq for demanding payment in gold, China literally kept all foreign companies outside of its market until it had a good domestic competition, funding its students in American universities and giving them lucrative government jobs and high paying positions in the party.
USA is run by greedy asshole who look at short term profit and can't fathom long games. Trump might be incompetent but he didn't go away because of that he went away because he exposed the ruling class for being self serving and pretentious hypocrites that they are.
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 08 2021, @02:56PM (1 child)
One time he said covfefe and made America momentarily unGreat.
(Score: 3, Funny) by Reziac on Friday April 09 2021, @12:27AM
Show me the words *you* have put into the lexicon....
...he didn't? you're still using it, aren't you??
And there is no Alkibiades to come back and save us from ourselves.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by crafoo on Wednesday April 07 2021, @10:36PM (2 children)
Good points, and it seems you've thought through this issue.
So yeah, what we are dealing with here is the nature of true power. Money is a rationing method for power, but as you say, the mob isn't as predictable or dependable as well-organized corporations.
The only other expression of power is violence, that I'm aware of. 2019-2020 proved the mob isn't prepared to go this far. So yeah. Time to be slaves.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 08 2021, @02:59PM (1 child)
And the other "only other" approach is peaceful protest, which seemed to catch on unlike the hundreds-strong confederate shitfest on Jan 6.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 08 2021, @04:14PM
Peaceful protest is useless. When you look at the famous examples where it worked, it really didn't. The most famous is Gandhi.
Narrative: Gandhi struggled through decades of protest, resisting all calls to violence, and struggled solely through non-violent civil disobedience. He ultimately would live to see his dream realized and India granted their independence from the British Empire.
Reality: After WW2 the British Empire was literally bankrupt. And this was in the time when money actually meant something. They ended up rapidly "freeing" their numerous territories, starting with the least valuable. India after WW2 was basically worthless, and required an immense amount of upkeep to maintain. Numerous other countries, including those with no "Brexit" movement whatsoever, were also "freed". India would have been "freed" with or without Gandhi.
Even in the US. The Civil Rights movement didn't cause the Civil Rights Act. The most obvious evidence here is Vietnam. Vietnam and Civil Rights Protests were in most cases one and the same thing. The US government wanted to stay in Vietnam, however, and so we did until the point we were forcibly removed. So if that's just narrative what's reality? We had the most machiavellian president who likely ever held office in the United States passed the Civil Rights Act while allegedly [snopes.com] making comments such as, "I'll have those niggers voting democrat for the next 100 years." Link to Snopes there since they rate the claim as unproven (which is reasonable), but provide mountains of character evidence indicating such a claim would have been a run of the mill comment for LBJ - he was an absolutely horrible person.
Peaceful protest imposes no threat on the powers that be. They can wait for arbitrarily long periods of time. As protests wear on public sentiment tends to wane, and the protesters grow bored or run out of funding.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by krishnoid on Wednesday April 07 2021, @08:50PM (2 children)
I'd rather the voting populace vote with their dollars, based on post-sales support and maintenance rather than upfront cost, features, and marketing. Isn't that what open source is about -- literally, the right to repair [fsf.org]?
(Score: 3, Insightful) by MostCynical on Wednesday April 07 2021, @09:10PM (1 child)
so you want them to think about, and consider, long term implications
hell, you expect them to think?
"I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
(Score: 2) by krishnoid on Wednesday April 07 2021, @09:49PM
I was hoping they'd *remember*, but something about consumerism and "new and improved" seems to shut that part of the brain off. "Think"? The last four years [mcsweeneys.net] -- really, the first 2 1/2, after which it was daily-to-weekly more of the same -- have thoroughly reprogrammed me of that presumption.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by PartTimeZombie on Wednesday April 07 2021, @08:56PM (1 child)
What a shitty way to run a country
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 07 2021, @10:37PM
There are prentice of places that will fix iPhones.
(Score: 2, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 07 2021, @05:08PM (5 children)
Get Amazon to start carrying overpriced repair parts, then Bezos will make sure right-to-repair gets passed everywhere.
(Score: 2, Interesting) by Taxi Dudinous on Wednesday April 07 2021, @06:10PM (2 children)
They already do. But my experience has been such that you must be extremely careful you are ordering EXACTLY the right part. And sometimes there will still be a difference from what you think you are ordering, based on the description provided. I have received parts that appear to be exact replacements, but do not function the same as OEM parts ordered straight from the manufacturer.
Too bad the manufacturers will be able to refuse to sell the right parts if they choose.
This morning I replaced a sub $50.00 part in a piece of large equipment. If I had to wait for the manufacturer to send a tech to do the job, I would be losing money for weeks. Maybe things will get to the point where if I am not big enough to have supplier techs on staff and at the ready, I will not be able to stay in business.
Just more legislation to push the money toward those who already have most of it.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Runaway1956 on Wednesday April 07 2021, @06:19PM (1 child)
Yeah, we've been burnt with just relatively simple automotive parts. A bolt hole pattern doesn't exactly match, or some such trivial matter.
And, that's part of the whole "right to repair". It shouldn't be a closely guarded secret which parts are in the gadget, appliance, or piece of equipment. Everything should be documented.
Sometimes I wonder if newly elected official have to attend secret classes. "You new kids need to understand that we don't run anything. Our corporate masters approve or disapprove of everything that we discuss. Your job is to theatrically discuss any new bill, but be aware that the decision is made over our head. Just supply the drama, and do what you're told!"
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 08 2021, @02:00PM
Didn't AOC already reveal that to be the case during her early days in congress?
Here we go [wikipedia.org]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 07 2021, @09:27PM (1 child)
That doesn't work. They'll just collude with each other to "respect" each other's various spheres of dominance, at the expense of their customers. Sure it's illegal; so is speeding on the highway, and people do both every single day.
Just like how the U.S. Constitution set up the governmental branches under the theory that each branch would "jealously guard" their power from the other branches. Turns out they eventually just collude with each other to gradually increase the power of all the branches, at the expense of the people.
(Score: 5, Funny) by DannyB on Wednesday April 07 2021, @09:42PM
The three governmental branches were set up because our founders understood that any good circus has three rings.
The lower I set my standards the more accomplishments I have.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by fustakrakich on Wednesday April 07 2021, @06:08PM (2 children)
Two more questions for the board:
What's up?
Cui bono?
La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
(Score: 3, Insightful) by krishnoid on Wednesday April 07 2021, @10:32PM
It would be great if we could get a transparent accounting [youtu.be] broken down along those lines: "these are the parts I just don't understand" and "these are the parts I've been paid to drag my heels on". Maybe if you're actually willing to break it down like this, you get one free pass per term of not being blamed for, er, "campaign contribution favoritism".
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 08 2021, @02:05AM
Offtopic?
That's weird. Cui bono is an extremely pertinent question in matters of political corruption.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 07 2021, @06:08PM
the argument of some of the original equipment vendor make it out to actually be a "right to break", since really outright breaking a device and having a really accidentally broken item unofficially repaired voids the warranty?
so when apple et al say "don't allow "right to repair", they acctually mean: don't allow "right to break"" which ofc makes no sense at all...
(Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 07 2021, @06:14PM (11 children)
that's one way to put it. How about just calling that Suited Whore piece of shit out on her fucking bullshit excuse and ask people to let that piece of shit know how they feel. Groveling won't change anything. These people are not to be given any respect. They are their to subvert the will of the people and to make it seem legit. That is what they were placed there for. Make them wish they never thought they were so slick. Make them pay..
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 07 2021, @06:25PM (10 children)
How about you tone down the violent rhetoic? We all know you mean to inspire violence on these pols, but that is psychopath behavior of lazy twits who can't be bothered to do the hard work of spreading a political message. There is a reason violence is supposed to be the last resort, go pick up a history book sometime.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Wednesday April 07 2021, @06:37PM (3 children)
French Revolution? The aristocracy was uncontrollable. Do you have control over our own ruling class?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 07 2021, @06:58PM (2 children)
I think we are at the knitting stage right now. Just write the names down in code.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 07 2021, @09:29PM (1 child)
At last, someone else who gets the "knit their names in scarves" reference!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 08 2021, @03:02PM
That was well worth the wait.
(Score: -1, Troll) by Ethanol-fueled on Wednesday April 07 2021, @09:31PM (5 children)
Fuck off, you smarmy faggot. Crybullying (a Jew tactic) to suppress free speech is worse than being actually violent, but if you want to talk actual physical violence and voter intimidation I'd be more than happy to tell you about who was breakin' shit, murdering children, and beating up old ladies last summer.
And when Chauvin gets off scot-free you and your Jew buddies ain't gonna do a goddamn thing this time around. Or maybe you will, in which case I'll grab the popcorn. Ain't my city you'll be lighting on fire.
Finally a joke:
Derek and the Chauvenist Pigs! Nyuk nyuk nyuk!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 07 2021, @09:47PM (4 children)
> when Chauvin gets off scot-free
Time for a wager? I think Chauvin gets manslaughter. If I'm wrong, I'll post under my user name a few times (I'm logged in, posting AC). What's your bet?
(Score: 2, Touché) by Ethanol-fueled on Wednesday April 07 2021, @10:06PM (3 children)
Your manslaughter vs. my mistrial by hung jury? Well, call me a coward, but since there's no way I could anonymously grant money to you, I wouldn't get hopes up. But if we were face-to-face at the bar when the verdict was delivered, I'd bet 20 American dollars.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 07 2021, @11:35PM (2 children)
How about going 24 hours without mentioning Jews in person or online if you lose?
(Score: 2) by Pslytely Psycho on Thursday April 08 2021, @12:54AM (1 child)
Too easy.
When he loses, he'll get so snockered that he'll pass out for two days at the minimum.
Alex Jones lawyer inspires new TV series: CSI Moron Division.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 10 2021, @05:30AM
Back for a look -- seems that e-f is ready to take the bet, although the amount isn't quite settled yet. I like the suggestion of no Jew bashing for a few days (after he recovers from the ethanol coma), that would be a nice respite.
I'm still wagering: I'll post as my login for awhile.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by JoeMerchant on Wednesday April 07 2021, @06:32PM (5 children)
The lawmakers' concerns should include: if we pass this sweeping legislation, does that mean that Apple, John Deere, BMW, and thousands of other corporations are no longer going to offer their products for sale or use in Colorado?
It's great for a state of 5.8 million people to stand up for their right to repair, but when they represent less than 1% of the population of the US+EU - do you really think that corporations are going to capitulate to their laws the way automakers did for California's more business friendly emissions controls back in the 1970s?
In the example of the wheelchair manufacturer, that company may not have the resources to enable owner repair of their products without releasing all liability for product malfunction to the repairer. Any user serviceable part creates huge verification and validation documentation requirements under FDA and EU regulations.
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 4, Interesting) by krishnoid on Wednesday April 07 2021, @08:53PM (2 children)
Is there precedent for that? Manufacturers don't like a law, so they restrict sale/use in certain states? I think that's the case for some insurance products, but I'd like to know if there are actual physical products in that situation.
(Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 08 2021, @04:58AM
It's not precisely the same situation, but quite a few gun makers refuse to sell some or all guns to government agencies in states with certain gun laws they find objectionable. For instance, after California prohibited sales of .50-caliber rifles to private citizens, both Barrett and Serbu refused to do any business with CA LE, including servicing their existing guns. And after New York passed the SAFE act, a lot of manufacturers will only sell NY police the same selection of SAFE-compliant guns they can sell to private citizens.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 08 2021, @01:05PM
I believe insurance product availability is driven by the insurance boards and regulators in each state. For instance, you can tell which states have stronger usury laws regarding things like payday loans or "advances" on legal settlements (which are essentially high-interest short term loans) by looking at the exclusion fine print in their commercials ("Offer not available in . . . "). Insurance companies have to be registered in the states, and to do so they need to meet various state requirements. Some states have public elections for their insurance commissioners, and it is one of those positions that people know little about but has a bigger effect on their everyday lives.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Mykl on Wednesday April 07 2021, @10:17PM (1 child)
Divide and conquer.
This is why the US is so crap - 50 states equals nobody willing to take the first step in these matters for fear of offending the overlords.
It's also why the EU is not a bad idea versus a bunch of tiny countries each trying to go it alone. If the Netherlands threatened to make it hard for Apple to do business, I'm sure Apple wouldn't even blink. Now the entire European Union however...
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 07 2021, @11:39PM
It really says something about just how bad corporatism has become that being your own country isn't enough to fight back against them anymore. As an example, tobacco companies suing African countries in international court for requiring the same anti-smoking labels on cigarettes that are required in west, and those countries not being able to afford the legal fees to fight back.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by dltaylor on Wednesday April 07 2021, @07:20PM (2 children)
We need to have go fund me pages for these snakes^h^h^h^h^h^hpoliticians, although that presumes that any of them are honest enough to stay bought.
I couldn't find a proper attribution for 'In politics, an “honest man” is often described as someone (a politician or a voter) who, when bought, stays bought. A “dishonest man” is someone who sides with the person who buys him last.', but it probably goes back to, at least, the Roman Empire.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 07 2021, @07:50PM (1 child)
The problem there is that the politicians are already bought and paid for just to get their names on the ballot. The 'honest' ones will stay bought by their corporate masters and the 'dishonest' ones will accept your money and then act against you anyway. And if you try to run against them then you will need corporate sponsorship to get your voice heard by enough voters to challenge the incumbent.
(Score: 1) by anubi on Thursday April 08 2021, @11:11PM
I went on a rampage to vote out all incumbents after the DMCA was passed. ALL those congresscritters were in on it. For the first time, I became 100% disloyal to my party, as they showed me they were also 100% disloyal to me.
For me, it was about forcing customer lock-in via technical enforcement, electronic surveillance, reporting my compliance (or lack of) to others, who now report my disobedience to law enforcement authorities who are authorized to use any physical or economic means to compel my compliance to their business model.
The way I see it, once I purchase a thing, they now have what used to be my money. I no longer have any rights as to what they do with it, and I now have the thing; they no longer have any rights as to what I do with it either. Except replicate and sell copies.
If I want to take my legally purchased thing apart, I claim the right to do so. And reassemble as I see fit.
"Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [KJV: I Thessalonians 5:21]
(Score: 3, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 07 2021, @09:14PM
See https://www.vice.com/en/article/jgqk38/the-right-to-repair-movement-is-poised-to-explode-in-2021 [vice.com] for a list of 14 other states working on some form of right-to-repair legislation. Some only aimed at cars, others to the larger market.
Colorado isn't even mentioned in this Vice story, it may be a newcomer to this game(??)
MA already has some right-to-repair for cars in place and are considering extending to other products.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 07 2021, @10:52PM (2 children)
I keep seeing “no user serviceable parts inside.” My reaction is “wanna bet?”
It’s already broken, so might ax well take it apart and see if I can fix it. More often than not, the answer is yes. Sometimes it’s as simple as drilling out the rivets/special fasteners and giving things a good cleaning.
(Score: 4, Touché) by kazzie on Thursday April 08 2021, @05:37AM (1 child)
"No user serviceable parts inside."
I'm not a user, I'm an Engineer!
(Score: 1) by anubi on Thursday April 08 2021, @10:35PM
I can't tell you how many broken things I have disassembled just for parts.
Stuff like a still operable audio bluetooth module in a hopelessly damaged headset.
Intention: Put it into that old 60's stereo console I've had since I was a kid.
"Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [KJV: I Thessalonians 5:21]
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 07 2021, @11:32PM
Colorado claims to be an enlightened with regards to protecting the environment.
Fixing stuff, instead of throwing it away it a fundamental way to help the decrease the environment load from the gadget we love.
Just waving off the right to repair is great for corporate profits, but really counterproductive to sustainable living.
How do we hold these legislator's feet to the fire?
They clearly need to explain themselves as to why this is in the interests of the folks that elected them.
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 08 2021, @01:47AM
We need to move the All-Star Game again.
(Score: 3, Informative) by oregonjohn on Thursday April 08 2021, @04:08AM
Louis Rossmann, owner of an apple laptop/iphone repair shop in New York, New York is crowdfunding a direct ballot initiative. He is basing his campaign on a successful automotive right to repair that cost 20 million dollars to fight against the opponents. Louis is appeared at many different state's legislative hearings on right to repair and always the law fails (usually to get out of committee). So in light of that he want to put right to repair on the ballot of one state (yet to be determined).
You can learn a lot about his initiative at his youtube channel video on the subject at https://youtu.be/dWIF3ZRpf0I. [youtu.be] And more about him from his youtube channel videos (current count over 1200) at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCl2mFZoRqjw_ELax4Yisf6w/videos [youtube.com]
(Score: 2) by kazzie on Thursday April 08 2021, @05:35AM
If citizens testified they were riveting their electronics to repair them, perhaps it's for the best.