The Right to Repair

By Charles Miller

The new administration in Washington, D.C., is moving to address an issue important to many. Angry and frustrated consumers have flocked to Apple’s App Store to download the “Ice Check” app for real-time updates on the locations of working McDonald’s ice cream machines. At last, the new administration headed by a lover of soft serve has unleashed the U.S. Federal Trade Commission to investigate why the ice cream machines are so frequently out of service.

The McDonald’s ice cream machines require a great deal of maintenance, including a daily cleaning cycle that can take hours. When a cleaning cycle fails, the machine requires maintenance from the manufacturer, and until then, no ice cream because McDonald’s employees are not allowed to repair the machines. Only Taylor Commercial Foodservice LLC is authorized to make repairs, and that manufacturer has sued at least one other company that tried to offer quicker repairs claiming it was illegal.

I am thrilled to have this story come out, not only because certain politicians can continue to have their ice cream cones but because it spotlights the “Right to Repair” movement. For years, some manufacturers have been insidiously scheming to make it impossible for consumers to repair the products they own. The list includes automobiles, appliances, computers, and more.

Let us look specifically at computers where some manufacturers go to great lengths to make sure their customers cannot repair their own devices nor hire anyone other than the manufacturer to do so. This monopolization of the repair market is most often accomplished by blocking access to replacement parts.

Manufacturers often enter exclusive contracts with overseas suppliers to provide computer chips, display screens, batteries, and other parts only to them and to nobody else. Independent repair shops that somehow manage to find and buy a cache of these replacement parts can run into problems with U.S. Customs. When a shipment arrives in the United States, if it is addressed to the manufacturer, the parts are legal—but if the same parts are addressed to an independent repair shop, they can be seized as contraband.

The computer manufacturers who have the only “legal” replacement parts are also known to make them available only for a limited time. After a certain number of years, the manufacturer may decide they do not want customers to have the option of repairing an older model device, so they destroy their stock of parts to make sure nobody will ever be able to do repairs on that device again.

Some progress is being made to counter this. Massachusetts passed the “Motor Vehicle Owners’ Right to Repair Act,” requiring automobile manufacturers to sell to consumers the same service materials previously only made available to dealerships. Maybe one day soon, it will be possible to get a McDonald’s ice cream without using a smartphone app that maps your route to a working machine in the next county.

Charles Miller is a freelance computer consultant, a frequent visitor to San Miguel since 1981, and now practically a full-time resident. He may be contacted at 415-101-8528 or email FAQ8 (at) SMAguru.com.