Supreme Court upholds RIGHT TO REPAIR

[Chris Pile]

https://www.wired.com/2017/06/impression-v-lexmark/

Darn right! Americans like to own a lot of stuff, and we want the right to fix it.

[Lothar]

Thanks for the link, Chris. This does seem to be an important, if rare, victory for individual liberty over corporate tyranny.
POWER (to repair) TO THE PEOPLE!

[bumpkinvilledano]

It's a start, but it's gonna be a long fight. As pointed out in the attached article, some companies are now adding language to deny you the right to repair/modify their product. And as many folks don't take the time to read the fine print, or understand all the "lawyer speak", it comes back to bite them in the butt down the road.

[t walgamuth]

Bully for the Supremes! I agree totally once they sell the cartridge we can do whatever we wish with it.

I have a Brothers fax, copy, scanner and printer. If I buy cartridges from them it costs like about 90 dollars and they last about a week or two before it says I am out of one of the colors....WTF?

I found a place online which refills the cartridges and sells them for $60....and they last nearly forever. Wooo hoooo!

[Chris Pile]

The article mentions the John Deere lawsuit.... Can you imagine telling farmers they can't repair their broken machinery in the field? Bad juju to say the least. Same with Lawn Boy..... We'll see what the future brings.

[jclary]

Anything I have purchased, I have always reserved the right to repair (or break) with zero thought to who made it...and especially no thought to what the supreme court (or any court) has to say about it. However, this is an extremely important case, if the theory can be extrapolated out to other things regarding individual rights. How about all the restrictions of "computer" goods, software, and services you are required to "agree" to before you can use what you purchased? Buried down into the "legalese" are overly broad scope of "rights" related terms in favor of the providers, that an average layman could spend a lifetime pouring over and never reach a reasonable understanding.

That may very well be the next huge "rights" battle. How many of us, generally, click on the "agree" button when installing, subscribing, or using computer service, and never take the time to read what you are really agreeing to? I have tried to read, and understand, some of this stuff, but never truly understood much of it.

Life is too short. It's like being required to understand where each thorn is in a briar patch before wading in to pick blackberries. Even if you did, you would spend more hours doing that than actually acquiring the berries, still leave sweaty, with thorn pricks, and a itchy painful case of chiggers. So, you might as well click "agree"...wade in, get the berries, and move on.

It's just a simple fact of living, that while our constitution presents "inalienable rights," the nit pickers and hair hairsplitters will forever argue, over the meaning of "inalienable," in an attempt to gain a favorable advantage.

[jnormanh]

I have a Brothers fax, copy, scanner and printer. If I buy cartridges from them it costs like about 90 dollars and they last about a week or two before it says I am out of one of the colors....WTF?

I found a place online which refills the cartridges and sells them for $60....and they last nearly forever. Wooo hoooo!

I don't know what model Brother you have. Mine is 7-8 years old, model MFC 490CW. Many other models use the same cartridges.

A set of all four cartridges from these folks is $15. They are new, not refills

I've been using them for years. I don't print more than a few pages a week. At that rate they last more than a year.

http://www.inkjetsuperstore.com/ink-cartridges/Brother-MFC-490CW-ink-cartridges-toner-printer

[t walgamuth]

Thanks very much! I'll check that out.

[Lothar]

The article mentions the John Deere lawsuit.... Can you imagine telling farmers they can't repair their broken machinery in the field? Bad juju to say the least. Same with Lawn Boy..... We'll see what the future brings.

Chris, don't underestimate the audacity of John Deere. They REMOTELY shut down a local farmer's combine while it was in the field because he hadn't kept up on the payments. I'm surprised automakers haven't latched on to that idea.

[JoeHall]

Chris, don't underestimate the audacity of John Deere. They REMOTELY shut down a local farmer's combine while it was in the field because he hadn't kept up on the payments. I'm surprised automakers haven't latched on to that idea.

WOW ! Now that is an example of the loong arm of the law, and may be one of the latest tactics of debt collectors. LOL