Right to Repair

We’re Hosting a Press Call to Discuss How Copyright Law Hinders Repair

Every three years, the US Copyright Office wields tremendous power, deciding what is legal to jailbreak or repair, and what is not. Their filing deadline for hardware freedom requests is this Monday.

Ahead of that deadline, iFixit is hosting a press briefing to announce our request for sweeping Right to Repair permissions. We’ll be live with EFF and Public Knowledge at 12:00 pm PST on Monday, December 14 on YouTube to discuss the US Copyright Office’s triennial process for granting exemptions to section 1201 of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, and how this law hinders repair and holds back innovation.

Passed by Congress in 1998, Section 1201 of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act makes it illegal to bypass the digital locks manufacturers use to control access to device software. Every three years, the U.S. Copyright Office conducts a rulemaking to decide whether to allow circumvention of these locks for certain products, such as Xbox and PlayStation optical drives.

On Monday, iFixit, along with our friends at Public KnowledgeEFF, and other Right to Repair advocates and innovators, will file comments asking the Copyright Office to allow consumers and repair techs to legally repair and modify their software-enabled devices.

iFixit’s U.S. Head of Policy, Kerry Maeve Sheehan, will present a panel of experts. The panelists will be available to answer questions after the discussion. The experts include:

  • Kyle Wiens, CEO, iFixit
  • Meredith Rose, Senior Policy Counsel, Public Knowledge
  • Matt Zieminski, VP, The Repair Association
  • Trammell Hudson, Director of Special Projects, Lower Layer Labs
  • Cara Gagliano, Staff Attorney, EFF

If you’re a member of the press and would like to RSVP to attend the briefing via Zoom, or if you would like to schedule an interview with a panel member, please contact olivia@ifixit.com.

You may also observe the briefing live on our YouTube channel on Monday December 14 at 12:00 pm PST.