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VICTORY IN AN ONGOING BATTLE —


NEW YORK STATE PASSES FIRST ELECTRONICS RIGHT-TO-REPAIR BILL


GOVERNOR HOCHUL STILL HAS TO SIGN THE BILL.

Scharon Harding - 6/3/2022, 8:04 PM

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The fight for the right to repair scored a huge win Friday with New York state
passing a bill that requires digital electronics manufacturers, like laptop and
smartphone manufacturers, to make diagnostic and repair information available to
consumers and independent repair shops.

The bill, which passed in the New York Senate (49 to 14) on Wednesday and in the
Assembly (145 to 1) today, enacts the Digital Fair Repair Act. Governor Kathy
Hochul has to sign the bill before it is law, but advocates, like iFixit, said
they don't expect obstacles there.

Notably, the bill doesn't pertain to medical devices, home appliances,
agricultural and off-road equipment, or public safety communications equipment.
However, right-to-repair advocates have their eye on those areas as well. The
bill also doesn't cover motor vehicles.

Companies selling tech products in New York that are covered will be obligated
to distribute information, software, tools, and parts so that individuals and
independent repair shops can repair personal devices on their own. iFixit said
it expects this to take effect by 2023.

More specifically, the bill says it:

> "Requires OEMs to make available, for purposes of diagnosis, maintenance, or
> repair, to any independent repair provider, or to the owner of digital
> electronic equipment manufactured by or on behalf of, or sold by, the OEM, on
> fair and reasonable terms, documentation, parts, and tools, inclusive of any
> updates to information. Nothing in this section requires an OEM to make
> available a part if the part is no longer available to the OEM. For equipment
> that contains an electronic security lock or other security-related function,
> the OEM shall make available to the owner and to independent repair providers,
> on fair and reasonable terms, any special documentation, tools, and parts
> needed to access and reset the lock or function when disabled in the course of
> diagnosis, maintenance, or repair of the equipment. Such documentation, tools,
> and parts may be made available through appropriate secure release systems."


FIGHTING “MONOPOLISTIC PRACTICES”

The bill successfully argued that it will help protect against "monopolistic
practices of digital electronics manufacturers," brought on by the withholding
of repair and diagnostic information. This forced consumers to rely on product
manufacturers and their authorized repair providers. According to a blog post by
iFixit CEO Kyle Wiens today, 59 percent of independent repair shops in
California recently reported fear of closure without the right to repair.

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"Nothing prevents third-party repairers from being technically competent to
complete digital repairs other than the lack of information being withheld by
manufacturers," the bill states. "In too many instances, repairs of digital
items are intentionally limited by the manufacturer."

The bill also points to "inflated, high repair prices, poor service or
non-existent service in rural areas, and unnecessarily high turnover rates for
electronic products" as justification for the legislation.

E-waste was also a driver for the bill, as well as the general fight for the
right to repair. In a statement, New York Assemblymember Patricia Fahy said the
bill would "help to reduce the 655,000 tons of toxic e-waste produced [and]
typically discarded in a single calendar year here in New York state."

In its announcement, the New York State Assembly pointed to a study by the US
Public Interest Group finding that the average New York family would save
approximately $330 per year and reduce electronic waste by 22 percent with the
right to repair.


BEYOND THE EMPIRE STATE

While right-to-repair advocates scored a notable win, there's much more
legislation required before the right extends across the country and product
categories.

In his blog Friday, iFixit's Wiens pointed to the impact the passing of the law
is expected to have around the world. For one, the exec hopes that manufacturers
will make repair manuals open to everyone, not just New Yorkers.

Wiens also expressed hope for software protections catching on outside of New
York.

"The New York law includes provisions for resetting the software locks that some
manufacturers use to tie parts to the device’s motherboard or serial number.
Manufacturers will have to find some way to make parts pairing reset tools
available to the public. That’s a huge boon for repair, but it also helps the
refurbishment industry: Lots of refurbishers harvest parts from old devices,
which is impossible when those devices have parts paired to the motherboard,"
Wiens said, noting related infrastructure challenges facing vendors.

Ars recently spoke with Wiens, who discussed the biggest challenges and
happenings in the fight for the right to repair, including the necessity of
federal involvement. You can check out our interview on the right to repair with
iFixit's CEO here.


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READER COMMENTS

131 with 77 posters participating

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Scharon Harding Scharon is Ars Technica’s Senior Products Expert and writes
news, reviews, and features on consumer technology, including laptops, PC
peripherals, and lifestyle gadgets. She’s based in Brooklyn.
Email scharon.harding@arstechnica.com

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