A recent US copyright office exemption regarding restaurant equipment is a positive step that removes incentives for manufacturers to intentionally make repairs difficult.

“this decision is a blow to tailor the manufacturer of these machines which has historically made a large part of its income from repair calls and has fought third-party attempts to repair its purposely finicky machines”

Luke believes manufacturers should have a tiered responsibility system where full technical schematics are published once a product reaches end-of-life.

“by the time this product is completely eol and you are no longer supporting it in any way it is my belief that the full schematics just need to be published”

He believes farmers should have the right to repair their own equipment and that restrictions are intentionally imposed by large companies.

“what I'd say to producers, especially young ones, is I think what they need to understand is this is being done on purpose.”

He identifies the John Deere right to repair settlement as a significant victory for the right to repair movement.

“And while the cinnamon's not perfect, this still in the right to repair world has got to be one of the biggest wins. Whether it's a perfect win or not, probably one of the biggest wins in the battle of right to repair.”

He believes the increasing pressure from right-to-repair legislation is forcing companies to finally offer consumer-friendly repair options.

“I'm sure some of these companies are starting to see the writing on the wall that this might happen so get ahead of the game while you can”