Farenthold Reintroduces You Own Devices Act Alongside Polis
The You Own Devices Act (YODA) (HR-862) was reintroduced Wednesday by Reps. Blake Farenthold, R-Texas, and Jared Polis, D-Colo. The bill would amend Section 109 of the Copyright Act to allow consumers to resell or lease their software, a joint…
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news release said. “As technology advances, more and more of the devices in your home, office, and garage contain essential software that make them run,” Farenthold said in the release. That “opens the door to software licenses that erode how much you own these devices and how you can dispose of them,” he said. “YODA ensures that these devices are yours and you can sell them when you wish.” “For too long our antiquated copyright laws have been stifling innovation and blocking consumers from being able to access more efficient, effective, and affordable products and technology," Polis said. "YODA will bring our copyright laws into the 21st century and recognize that people can own and transfer devices without being strangled by paperwork and empty legal threats." The bill is the same as HR-5586, which Farenthold introduced last year, a spokesman said. Farenthold “understands we expect the devices we buy to belong to us, for us to re-sell or give away as we please,” Mike Godwin, R Street Institute innovation policy director, said in a news release. “This bill says in a very few words what we all believe about what we buy: we own it and we can re-sell it as we see fit.”