We have the right to repair

You don’t really own your land, right? The government just lets you use it as long as you pay your taxes, and, of course, you have to comply with zoning laws and all sorts of rules and regulations.

Maybe you have a mortgage, so the bank owns some of your property, too. When I ask clients if they own a home, there’s a common answer: Well, I’m making payments to the bank. I hope to own it someday.

I can tell you that “ownership” of real estate means that you have the right to occupy and control the land but you don’t have the right to pick it up and move it to, say Manhattan, where it might be worth more. Because that’s impossible. You can’t move your land. It’s where it is.

But do you own your car, your kitchen appliances, your tools, your clothes? You will probably answer “yes.” And, unlike with land, there are very few restrictions about what you can and can’t do with your personal property.

Until recently. More and more, it seems like you don’t really own your own things anymore, like your car, farm equipment, and computers, because if you don’t pay monthly service contracts or software upgrades or bring it to an authorized dealer, it stops working. Then you’re really just renting it from the company that made it and “sold” it to you.

There’s a bill in the Legislature called the “Right to Repair” act, which would allow us access to the parts, instructions, and tools to repair and fix our own stuff. It’s a shame it’s come to this, frankly. Not so many years ago, manufacturers started using odd screw heads on their car engines, making it more difficult to repair your own car. Other manufacturers followed. It worked so well, more and more repairs required special tools that even your neighborhood mechanic couldn’t keep on hand. So eventually they went out of business and you have to bring your stuff to an authorized dealer, who now has a monopoly and can charge whatever they want.

I recently noticed this issue creep into my own life when Apple started charging $2.99 a month to save my photos on my iPhone. That’s not much at first blush. But I realized it’s $36 a year. Would I, once a year, pay some huge company $36 just to access my own photos? Well, I guess I have to.

Pete Boyechko is a local farmer who has been raising this issue everywhere he can. He told me that small operators like him can no longer buy new farm equipment because he doesn’t have access to the tools, manuals, or software to repair it when necessary. And there are fewer small local mechanics who can service such equipment. More and more, companies sell you a subscription to keep using your own equipment, effectively turning your purchase into a lease that never ends.

For example, Pete said, people buy a new car with keyless entry. The feature is included for the first year, but after that, the keyless entry stops working unless you buy an annual plan to keep it (and other features) going.

Do you have a computer? You have to give Microsoft your credit card for recurring charges if you want to keep using it. It never ends.

Suppose you like working on your own cars. You can buy a cheap OBD scanner for about $40 that will tell you why a warning light is on, making it easier to repair. But if you own a tractor, the company controls the software that runs the machine and can limit the information you are allowed to access. That makes it difficult to control your own piece of equipment.

That’s why I hope the Legislature gives serious consideration to the Right to Repair bill. Twenty states have pondered bills, with successful passage in a few. I’m certain there is a solution in Minnesota that can protect both consumers and manufacturers.

Pete Radosevich is the publisher of the Pine Knot News community newspaper and an attorney in Esko who hosts the cable access talk show Harry’s Gang on CAT-7. His opinions are his own. Contact him at [email protected].