In support of the ITAD’s and the Right to Repair
July 21, 2021- Washington, DC.
With President Biden’s recent Executive Order in support of the Right to Repair in mind, today, Joseph Marion, President of the ASCDI will deliver the following statement to the US Federal Trade Commission today at 1:00 PM Eastern US time.
“The right to repair and the right to resell are two sides of the same coin.
IBM, who was the dominant computer company in the 1950’s, originally only rented its equipment, because they didn’t want to compete with anyone reselling their used products. In 1956, in response to an anti-trust action by the US Department of Justice (DOJ), IBM entered into a consent decree agreeing to sell its equipment AND provide the parts and wiring diagrams required to fix them! The result gave consumers choice and fostered competition and innovation.
In 1996, IBM and the DOJ agreed to vacate the consent decree. Since then, most tech manufacturers have made it next to impossible for anyone to fix and resell their products by withholding the software (today’s wiring diagram), parts and warranties.
We’ve been waiting 25 years for today. Let us promote innovation, competition and protect our environment and protect the right to repair.
Join, come to our meetings. Support the cause.
About ASCDI
The ASCDI (the Association of Service, Communications, Data and ITAD providers) is an association of companies that recycle, resell and service tech equipment. For more information, go to www.ascdi.com.