By Dave Dahl

SPRINGFIELD – The Right to Repair movement – allowing customers and repair shops to bypass the manufacturer in fixing their electronics – is coming to Illinois.

The movement, says Illinois Public Interest Research Group director Abe Scarr, is “diverse, bipartisan, and growing: we just want to fix our stuff. But, increasingly, manufacturers are trying to turn us from owners into renters. You don’t really own something if you can’t repair and maintain it without permission of and payment to the original manufacturers.”

Scarr spoke to an Illinois House hearing into this, as did Illinois Manufacturers’ Association lobbyist Donovan Griffith.

“You will have unsafe operation of products,” said Griffith. “Take, for example, a piece of medical equipment, such as a pacemaker for your heart that is repaired or modified by a person who is not properly trained. It hinders the ability of that pacemaker to operate the way it’s supposed to.”

Illinois lawmakers are just getting started on this one.

Dave Dahl can be reached at [email protected]