Digital Rights Management (DRM) software serves as “digital locks that are designed to block independent access.” Consumers are familiar with DRM, because it is often what prevents us from repairing our own vehicles and copying videos, music, video games, or eBooks that we purchase (technically, license).
Without DRM, powered wheelchairs are hard to fix. Not because of any technical issues but because of a duopoly in the powered wheelchair manufacturing market leading to them not appropriately funding the repair side of their business coupled with the difficulty in navigating the Medicare system. With DRM, getting a powered wheelchair repaired is downright criminal. The Electronic Frontier Foundation reports that:
[…]DRM in wheelchairs prevents wheelchair users and independent technicians from diagnosing routine problems with the chairs’ electronics. It also stops wheelchair users from making routine adjustments to their wheelchairs, as when “a wheelchair user with a balky wheel or failing motor may need to adjust the power wheelchair’s speed damping setting, which is accomplished using the administrative software” or when “a wheelchair user who installs a different tire on their chair for navigating inclement weather may want to access administrative software features to adjust the chair’s grip parameters.”
The fact is, DRM is preventing people from being able to live their lives. This is not a copyright or infringement issue. This is bald-faced greed at the expense of people who cannot afford it. And I’m not just talking money. I’m talking they cannot afford it because it prevents them from living their lives.