{"id":22786,"date":"2022-01-25T13:20:05","date_gmt":"2022-01-25T18:20:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/?p=828040"},"modified":"2022-01-25T13:20:05","modified_gmt":"2022-01-25T18:20:05","slug":"diyers-rejoice-john-deere-not-so-much","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/legal-innovation-center\/2022\/01\/25\/diyers-rejoice-john-deere-not-so-much\/","title":{"rendered":"DIYers, Rejoice! John Deere, Not So Much"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"BusinessmanWhile many of today\u2019s antitrust lawsuits boil down to things like market shares, price fixing, and reducing cost to consumers, it used to have loftier origins. Once upon a time, trust busting was about liberty<\/a>. And, if Joe Biden\u2019s recent backing of the right to repair is any indication, we might be returning to that ethos. <\/span><\/p>\n


\n“Too many areas, if you own a product, from a smartphone to a tractor, you don\u2019t have the freedom to choose how or where to repair that item you purchased.”<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Trusts like Standard Oil and Northern Securities Company were behemoths that were taken to task for limiting the choices consumers could make through deploying anticompetitive practices like price fixing and buying out competition. And while companies smartened up with their anticompetitive strategies, courts have arguably become more lax with their interpretation and enforcement of the Sherman Act and other antitrust statutes. And while it is more fashionable to lament the impact of inflation on the economy, you ought to be taking note of what companies are doing too \u2014 anticompetitive practices cost the average American family about $5,000 per year<\/a>.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

One innovation that companies have used was the strategy of limiting who customers could have their goods repaired by. This, coupled with planned obsolescence<\/a>, is a brilliant way for companies to continue to rake in profits post consumer purchase. Companies began to make it so that only licensed vendors could repair broken parts, and often at ridiculous<\/a> markups. To encourage the use of special vendors, companies would attach consequences to going elsewhere \u2014including repairing devices yourself \u2014 like v<\/span>oiding warranties. Some have even gone so far as to <\/span>break the functionality of their devices<\/a>. Practices like this have been so annoying and costly that it has actually spurned some market incentives to use older models of devices<\/a> that were sold prior to this money-making scheme.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

I think presidential support of the right to repair is a great step toward fostering economic liberty. In my experience, taking antitrust in law school was one of those classes that felt super practical. I remember growing up and seeing my favorite games being released for specific consoles that had buy in costs that were hundreds of dollars. If only I had the language to express legally why I thought it was unfair that I could only play with Spawn on Soul Calibre II if I had the XBOX version. While that opportunity is gone, I\u2019ll take some solace in knowing that some 15-year-old kid somewhere will be happy to know that some day, they\u2019ll be free to get their iPhone 17 repaired at a third-party vendor without voiding their warranty. Same thing, right?<\/p>\n

Joe Biden Formally Backs Consumers’ Right to Repair Their Electronics<\/a> [Vice]<\/p>\n

\n

\"\"Chris Williams became a social media manager and assistant editor for Above the Law in June 2021. Prior to joining the staff, he moonlighted as a minor Memelord\u2122 in the Facebook group\u00a0Law School Memes for Edgy T14s<\/a>. \u00a0He endured Missouri long enough to graduate from Washington University in St. Louis School of Law. He is a former boatbuilder who cannot swim,\u00a0a published author on critical race theory, philosophy, and humor<\/a>, and has a love for cycling that occasionally annoys his peers. You can reach him by email at\u00a0cwilliams@abovethelaw.com<\/a>\u00a0and by tweet at\u00a0@WritesForRent<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Now when a Biglaw firm gives you iPods instead of a raise, you can fix them yourself!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":142937,"featured_media":801137,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[1245,1402,7673,7880,7],"class_list":["post-22786","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-technology","tag-antitrust","tag-ftc","tag-joe-biden","tag-right-to-repair","tag-technology"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nDIYers, Rejoice! 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