Reminder: Join us in a few minutes for a discussion about the #RighttoRepair and follow our live tweets here. https://twitter.com/openmarkets/status/1252595014821187586

. @nProctor: We are here because people are losing their ability to repair the things that they own. True from tractors to vacuums to ventilators.

. @nProctor: The balance between the rights of manufacturers over the products they make and the rights of consumers over the products they own has gone haywire.

. @nProctor: Repair restrictions are familiar to us, but they’re causing real problems, especially during COVID-19. Some of these issues were inherited, but we can act now to address them.

. @clairekelloway: Looking to the past, repair used to be more accessible and products used to be designed for more durability. Refrigerators were often passed down, and the Model T had repairability built into the ethos of the product.

. @clairekelloway Fast forward to today: products are designed to lock out tinkerers and inhibit innovation. There have been cultural, technological and policy changes that led to these changes.

. @clairekelloway: Policies shape the markets we have. In the case of repair, the decline in antitrust enforcement has allowed manufacturers to get away with restrictive practices we see today.