Presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren has shared another Medium post today, this one outlining a plan to enact a national right-to-repair law in the event that she is elected. Her stance on right-to-repair laws is just a portion of her Medium post, which mostly focuses on "leveling the playing field" for American farmers.

repair mac
One of Warren's points centers on the fact that many farmers are forced to rely on authorized agents to repair equipment, leading to higher prices for the farmer. Warren says this is "ridiculous" and that farmers should be able to repair their own equipment, leading to her "strong support" for a national right-to-repair law.

Although Warren's post focuses on agriculture, Motherboard points out that her legislation would impact American customers across the board, from farmers fixing tractors to an iPhone owner looking to fix their smartphone at a lower cost without breaking warranty.

Elizabeth Warren: Farmers should be able to repair their own equipment or choose between multiple repair shops. That’s why I strongly support a national right-to-repair law that empowers farmers to repair their equipment without going to an authorized agent.

The national right-to-repair law should require manufacturers of farm equipment to make diagnostic tools, manuals, and other repair-related resources available to any individual or business, not just their own dealerships and authorized agents. This will not only allow individuals to fix their own equipment — reducing delays — but it will also create competition among dealers and independent repair shops, bringing down prices overall.

Apple encourages users to visit authorized repair shops, or Apple itself, to fix its devices. The company also builds its devices with many proprietary tools that make it difficult for users to repair at home, as many iFixit teardowns have proven. If Warren's legislation passed, this practice by Apple would seemingly be under a microscope in Washington.

This is the second Medium post that Warren has shared that could affect Apple in some way if she becomes President of the United States. Earlier this month, Warren outlined a plan to "break up" big tech companies to prevent monopolistic behavior. For Apple, this means that it would either have to choose between running the App Store or selling its first-party apps on it, but not both simultaneously.

The presidential candidate also wants to unwind big mergers like Amazon and Whole Foods, Facebook and Instagram, and Google and Nest. Warren argued that undoing these mergers would promote healthy competition in the tech market and put pressure back on big tech companies, making them more responsive to user concerns about privacy.

You can read Warren's latest Medium post here.

Note: Due to the political nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Politics, Religion, Social Issues forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

Top Rated Comments

Jmausmuc Avatar
59 months ago
As a German: In my opinion it is very scary how many leftist ideas are currently being embraced in the USA. I always looked at the entrepreneurial spirits, the free markets and the general business positive attitude of the USA with a little bit of envy.

Now, many people want the government to increasingly interfere in people’s life’s, a policy that already hasn’t worked in Europe. Why should it work in the USA?

It’s no coincidence that all the big and successful tech companies of today were founded in the USA.

We need the US as a beacon of personal and entrepreneurial freedom.
Score: 43 Votes (Like | Disagree)
aardwolf Avatar
59 months ago
"in the event that she is elected"

Well, nothing to worry about then...
Score: 18 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Jmausmuc Avatar
59 months ago
This is good. People who think this is "big control over people" see it the opposite for what it is; keeping companies from controlling our lives.
Nobody is forcing you do buy from these companies. Just exercise your right as a customer to choose instead of demanding legislation.
Score: 18 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Jmausmuc Avatar
59 months ago
Please list tech companies that allow users to easily repair their own devices with first-party parts and I'll gladly make the switch.
Are you kidding? How are you going to repair glued super thin tech devices like phones? If in fact everyone is doing it, there is a reason for it.

You people always imagine companies as some kind of dictators that can do how they please when they are in fact are constantly fighting for survival in the marketplace. So many formerly big companies were suddenly disrupted when nobody expected it.

If there were a market for DOY repairable phones, someone would offer them.

For laptops there are many alternatives or you could build your own desktop pc.

But you want the benefits of today’s precisely engineered super thin devices and also get cheap repairers and you want the government to make it happen for you...
Score: 16 Votes (Like | Disagree)
RedGala Avatar
59 months ago
This is good. People who think this is "big control over people" see it the opposite for what it is; keeping companies from controlling our lives.
Score: 16 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Eriamjh1138@DAN Avatar
59 months ago
I’m for it. Especially for Teslas.
Score: 15 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

iOS 17

Apple Releases iOS 17.0.1 and iPadOS 17.0.1 With Bug Fixes, Plus iOS 17.0.2 for iPhone 15 Models

Thursday September 21, 2023 10:28 am PDT by
Apple today released iOS 17.0.1 and iPadOS 17.0.1 updates for the iPhone and the iPad, adding bug fixes to the new software. The iOS 17.0.1 and iPadOS 17.0.1 updates come just a few days after Apple launched iOS 17 and iPadOS 17. The software, which is build 21A340, can be downloaded on eligible iPhones and iPads over-the-air by going to Settings > General > Software Update. There is a...
iPhone 15 Pro Lineup Feature

iPhone 15 Models Feature New Setting to Strictly Prevent Charging Beyond 80%

Tuesday September 19, 2023 2:04 pm PDT by
All of the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro models feature a new battery health setting that prevents the devices from charging beyond 80% at all times when enabled, as confirmed by The Verge's Allison Johnson during a Q&A session today. The new setting is separate from the pre-existing Optimized Battery Charging feature on iPhones, which intelligently delays charging past 80% until a more...
emojipedia 15 1 emoji

Emoji Coming to Future iOS 17 Update Include Shaking Head, Brown Mushroom, Lime, Phoenix and More

Tuesday September 19, 2023 12:43 pm PDT by
As Apple was announcing new iPhone models last week, the Unicode Consortium was officially approving new emoji characters that are set to be added to smartphones starting in 2024. Mockup of new emoji from Emojipedia Approved Unicode 15.1 emoji include phoenix, lime, an edible mushroom, shaking head vertically (as in a "yes" nod), shaking head horizontally (a "no" head shake), and broken...
iPhone 15 Pro Max 5x Optical Zoom Limit Feature 1

Apple Explains Why iPhone 15 Pro Max is Limited to 5x Optical Zoom

Wednesday September 20, 2023 9:52 am PDT by
In an interview with Numerama's Nicolas Lellouche, Apple's VP of camera software engineering Jon McCormack explained why the iPhone 15 Pro Max's tetraprism lens system is limited to 5x optical zoom, instead of 10x like on Samsung's Galaxy S23 Ultra. The interview is in French, so quotes below are computer translated. Apple says the Telephoto lens on the iPhone 15 Pro Max features the...