#righttorepairlaws — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #righttorepairlaws, aggregated by home.social.
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#USPIRG - #ElectronicWaste Graveyard
Expiring software or server support is responsible for up to 1.7 billion pounds of #EWaste over past decade.
by Nathan Proctor, Lucas Gutterman
April 10, 2025, Updated Jul 14, 2026"Increasingly, we’re pushed to trash tech that should still work, such as #Chromebooks, phones, and smart home devices, just because the software has expired or lost support. This database lists more than 100 tech products that have stopped working after manufacturers dropped support. It calculates the total weight of all these dead devices which have joined the 68 million tons of electronic waste disposed of each year.
"When software expires, or web cloud services end, consumers and schools are pushed to replace devices that should still work. For example, our 'Chromebook Churn' report found that tens of thousands of laptops were being replaced by schools because the software had expired. Since the graveyard was released in 2025, we have tracked a wave of new product shutdowns, some affecting a handful of niche gadgets, and one, Microsoft’s end of support for Windows 10, affecting 400 million computers at once.
"We now estimate that up to 1.7 billion pounds of electronic waste has been created by expired software and canceled cloud services since 2014. The largest contributor by far was the expiration of #Windows10 resulting in up to 1.6 billion pounds of electronic waste from PCs that can’t upgrade to #Windows11.
"13 #AmazonKindle models have also joined the graveyard this year. On May 20, 2026, Amazon cut off store access for 13 older Kindle models released between 2007 and 2012 — devices that, in many cases, are still being used daily by their original owners more than a decade later. The e-readers still turn on, still display books already downloaded, and still hold a charge. What they can no longer do is buy or download anything new, effectively ending their useful life as e-readers for many owners. Amazon’s shutdown means these e-readers can’t even borrow books from users’ local public #libraries.
"For the planet, this lack of support results in a death by a thousand server support cuts. This e-waste adds up. At the very least we need lifetime transparency for tech—we should know how long manufacturers guarantee the tech we buy will work before we buy it."
Read more:
https://pirg.org/edfund/resources/electronic-waste-graveyard/#SolarPunkSunday #RightToRepair #RightToRepairLaws #PlannedObsolescence #FixIt #ReuseRepairRestore
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#USPIRG - #ElectronicWaste Graveyard
Expiring software or server support is responsible for up to 1.7 billion pounds of #EWaste over past decade.
by Nathan Proctor, Lucas Gutterman
April 10, 2025, Updated Jul 14, 2026"Increasingly, we’re pushed to trash tech that should still work, such as #Chromebooks, phones, and smart home devices, just because the software has expired or lost support. This database lists more than 100 tech products that have stopped working after manufacturers dropped support. It calculates the total weight of all these dead devices which have joined the 68 million tons of electronic waste disposed of each year.
"When software expires, or web cloud services end, consumers and schools are pushed to replace devices that should still work. For example, our 'Chromebook Churn' report found that tens of thousands of laptops were being replaced by schools because the software had expired. Since the graveyard was released in 2025, we have tracked a wave of new product shutdowns, some affecting a handful of niche gadgets, and one, Microsoft’s end of support for Windows 10, affecting 400 million computers at once.
"We now estimate that up to 1.7 billion pounds of electronic waste has been created by expired software and canceled cloud services since 2014. The largest contributor by far was the expiration of #Windows10 resulting in up to 1.6 billion pounds of electronic waste from PCs that can’t upgrade to #Windows11.
"13 #AmazonKindle models have also joined the graveyard this year. On May 20, 2026, Amazon cut off store access for 13 older Kindle models released between 2007 and 2012 — devices that, in many cases, are still being used daily by their original owners more than a decade later. The e-readers still turn on, still display books already downloaded, and still hold a charge. What they can no longer do is buy or download anything new, effectively ending their useful life as e-readers for many owners. Amazon’s shutdown means these e-readers can’t even borrow books from users’ local public #libraries.
"For the planet, this lack of support results in a death by a thousand server support cuts. This e-waste adds up. At the very least we need lifetime transparency for tech—we should know how long manufacturers guarantee the tech we buy will work before we buy it."
Read more:
https://pirg.org/edfund/resources/electronic-waste-graveyard/#SolarPunkSunday #RightToRepair #RightToRepairLaws #PlannedObsolescence #FixIt #ReuseRepairRestore
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New push for #RightToRepair in #Maine aims to cut costs, reduce #ElectronicWaste
Vivien Leigh, August 13, 2026
"Advocates, lawmakers, and business owners have started a renewed push to help #Mainers fix #phones, #laptops, and other small #electronics more easily.
"Supporters set up a mock electronic-waste graveyard on Thursday to underscore the need for 'Right to Repair' reforms.
"Sheldon Arford owns Maine Computer Services, an independent repair shop. He showed nearly six computers that still work but are on their way to the recycling bin.
" 'They can't take the current version of Windows, and #Windows10 no longer gets security updates,' Arford explained. [Um, Sheldon, have you heard of #Linux ?]
"The business owner joined advocates and lawmakers for a mock memorial service focused on electronics that stopped working after their software expired, such as Windows 10 computers, #vacuums, #VideoGames, and over a dozen #Kindle models."
Read more:
https://www.yahoo.com/news/politics/articles/push-repair-maine-aims-cut-195219208.html#SolarPunkSunday #PlannedObsolescence #RightToRepairLaws #MainePol #FixIt #EWaste #ReuseRepairRestore
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New push for #RightToRepair in #Maine aims to cut costs, reduce #ElectronicWaste
Vivien Leigh, August 13, 2026
"Advocates, lawmakers, and business owners have started a renewed push to help #Mainers fix #phones, #laptops, and other small #electronics more easily.
"Supporters set up a mock electronic-waste graveyard on Thursday to underscore the need for 'Right to Repair' reforms.
"Sheldon Arford owns Maine Computer Services, an independent repair shop. He showed nearly six computers that still work but are on their way to the recycling bin.
" 'They can't take the current version of Windows, and #Windows10 no longer gets security updates,' Arford explained. [Um, Sheldon, have you heard of #Linux ?]
"The business owner joined advocates and lawmakers for a mock memorial service focused on electronics that stopped working after their software expired, such as Windows 10 computers, #vacuums, #VideoGames, and over a dozen #Kindle models."
Read more:
https://www.yahoo.com/news/politics/articles/push-repair-maine-aims-cut-195219208.html#SolarPunkSunday #PlannedObsolescence #RightToRepairLaws #MainePol #FixIt #EWaste #ReuseRepairRestore
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#Mainers throw sobbing eulogy for #DeadTech in #RightToRepair battle
Fri, August 14, 2026
#AugustaME (WGME) -- "Local #activists held a literal funeral outside the Maine State Capitol on Thursday, mourning over mock gravestones dedicated to #smartphones, blenders and #SmartRefrigerators.
"They claim manufacturers are discarding technology early and retiring models that still work so customers will buy new ones.
"The activists are fighting for the legal 'right to repair' their gadgets instead of being forced into expensive, corporate-mandated upgrades when devices stop working.
" 'I'd like to offer these remembrances for many #AmazonKindles. Their screens lit up our work and will always be remembered. On May 20, Amazon cut off 13 models of Kindles — every model made before 2012,' Environment Maine Field Director Lily McGovern said. 'I have one of those very models. The company said they had to do this because the technology has come a long way. Meanwhile, I thought reading text on a screen was pretty much the same it had been. Silly me.'
"Maine already has a right-to-repair law for cars, but a bill addressing smartphones fell short by just two votes last spring."
#SolarPunkSunday #PlannedObsolescence #RightToRepairLaws #MainePol #FixIt #ReuseRepairRestore
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#Mainers throw sobbing eulogy for #DeadTech in #RightToRepair battle
Fri, August 14, 2026
#AugustaME (WGME) -- "Local #activists held a literal funeral outside the Maine State Capitol on Thursday, mourning over mock gravestones dedicated to #smartphones, blenders and #SmartRefrigerators.
"They claim manufacturers are discarding technology early and retiring models that still work so customers will buy new ones.
"The activists are fighting for the legal 'right to repair' their gadgets instead of being forced into expensive, corporate-mandated upgrades when devices stop working.
" 'I'd like to offer these remembrances for many #AmazonKindles. Their screens lit up our work and will always be remembered. On May 20, Amazon cut off 13 models of Kindles — every model made before 2012,' Environment Maine Field Director Lily McGovern said. 'I have one of those very models. The company said they had to do this because the technology has come a long way. Meanwhile, I thought reading text on a screen was pretty much the same it had been. Silly me.'
"Maine already has a right-to-repair law for cars, but a bill addressing smartphones fell short by just two votes last spring."
#SolarPunkSunday #PlannedObsolescence #RightToRepairLaws #MainePol #FixIt #ReuseRepairRestore