Right to repair advocates have a new opponent: Scientologists

Right to repair advocates have made important good points throughout the US of late, however the newest problem to the motion faces a problem from a shocking place: the Church of Scientology.

In a letter filed earlier this month with the US Copyright Office relating to its triennial overview of Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) Section 1201 exemptions, Author Services, Inc., which represents “the literary, theatrical and musical works of [Scientology founder] L. Ron Hubbard,” opposed renewal of a subsection of 1201 that permits customers to circumvent software program locks so as to repair their units. 

Section 1201 exemptions have been granted in a variety of circumstances, together with for the repair of John Deere business farming tools, nevertheless it is not these types of exemptions that Author Services has a difficulty with. 

“We have no objection to the exemption as applied to … consumer devices to allow consumers to repair products on their own initiative,” Author Services authorized director Ryland Hawkins argued within the letter. Instead, Hawkins argues that some units – unnamed within the letter – “can only be purchased and used by someone who posses [sic] particular qualifications or has been specifically trained in the use of the device.”

In such circumstances, Hawkins argues, software program licenses aren’t unilateral, “however quite [are] negotiated and agreed to prematurely of the acquisition of the machine.

“In many case [sic], such restrictions are essential to ensuring the safe and proper use of the device, which is essential for the device manufacture [sic] to maintain its reputation and goodwill.”

The repair exemption guidelines that Hawkins refers to had been modified within the final Copyright Office overview in 2021, and loosened the legislation to enable tinkerers and safety researchers to dig into copyrighted software program with out violating the DMCA.

Such exemptions, Hawkins argues, “might directly contradict the terms of the negotiated, pre-purchase license, undermining the businesses’ ability to control their own reputation and that of their products.” 

Why does L. Ron Hubbard’s literary property care about this?

As talked about above, Author Services makes no point out of what explicit machine requiring coaching and {qualifications} to function that it may very well be speaking about. We contacted Author Services to discover out extra about its letter and request, however have not heard again.

Without figuring out what precisely the letter is referring to from the prophet’s mouth, we are able to nonetheless get there by connecting a few dots – firstly establishing that Author Services is a subsidiary of the Church of Scientology. 

One of Scientology’s subsidiaries is the Church of Spiritual Technology, which is described as proudly owning the copyrights to all of Hubbard’s works and accountable for licensing their use. As talked about above, Author Services represents Hubbard’s works.

Further, alleged excerpts from Department of Treasury paperwork from 1993 describe Author Services as being transferred to the only possession of the Church of Spiritual Technology. If that is the case, it’d imply Author Services is in the end answerable to the primary Scientology group.

And Scientology is just related to one digital machine: the notorious electropsychometer, or E-meter, which the church makes use of as a part of its “auditing” course of. E-meters allegedly “measure the spiritual state or change of state of a person” and are used to “locate areas of spiritual distress or travail.”

We be aware that language in Hawkins’ letter bears putting similarities to an settlement [PDF] from 2013 that Scientologists should signal so as to declare an E-meter, as leaked by Scientology whistleblower Mike Rinder.

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So why are Scientologists so eager to preserve the general public from choosing by their E-meter software program? “My hunch is that the Scientologists think granting the hacking community permission to dig into their E-Meter software will expose the whole operation as snake oil,” iFixit director of sustainability Elizabeth Chamberlain mentioned. 

“The request is like so many other anti-Right to Repair arguments: manufacturers are afraid that access to repair materials will expose some of their other dirty secrets,” Chamberlain added. 

Chamberlain expressed concern that, if the Copyright Office accepted Author Services’ request for exemption, different corporations may start in search of artistic methods to use that precedent to disrupt part 1201 exemptions too.

“I can imagine manufacturers using the presence of a ‘quick start’ guide for a product as evidence that their consumers are ‘specially trained in use of the device’ and thus denying broad access to repair,” the iFixit director mentioned. 

Whether Author Services’ request will succeed stays to be seen, however Chamberlain does not appear to assume so: “It’s a totally unreasonable proposal.” ®