Microsoft has just committed to the right to repair

Yielding to increasing pressure from shareholders, Microsoft agreed to make it easier for customers to independently repair their devices – a major and so far unprecedented victory for the Right to reparation movement.

In June, the non-profit investor advocacy association As You Sow had filed a shareholders’ resolution with the Securities and Exchange Commission asking Microsoft to examine the “environmental and social benefits of making its devices more easily repairable through measures such as the public provision of tools, parts and repair instructions.” Prior to this resolution, Microsoft, like many tech companies, had essentially rigged the game so that its devices could only be repaired in authorized stores, creating a monopoly on repairs that stifled consumer freedom and made life easier for everyone. more difficult.

But Thursday, Grist reported that Microsoft has now made a series of critical concessions as a result of this resolution, including a commitment to hire an independent consultant to study ways increasing access to parts and information could reduce e-waste and harmful environmental impacts, and a commitment to follow up on the findings of this study by the end of 2022.

“This is an encouraging move by Microsoft to respond to the upsurge in federal and state activity in the right to repair movement,” said Kelly McBee, waste program coordinator at As You Sow, in a statement. Press release. “Interestingly, this agreement will begin to allow consumers to repair their Microsoft devices outside of the limited network of authorized repair shops. “

In response to Microsoft’s pledge to review the reparations situation, As You Sow agreed on Monday to withdraw the shareholders’ resolution. The development is the latest in a winning streak for the right to Repair movement: In June, the FTC unanimously agreed to formally take the position that people should be able to repair their own gadgets, and in July, President Joe Biden released a Executive Decree ordering the FTC to create rules explicitly designed to prevent companies from establishing repair monopolies that prevent DIY or independent appliance repairs.