New York Governor Kathy Hochul Signed the Digital Fair Repair Act into lawMonths after passing it with overwhelming bipartisan majorities in both houses of the state legislature. The bill was originally passed by him in June, but it wasn’t officially sent to his Hochul desk earlier this month. The governor had until midnight on December 28th to sign the bill, veto it, or allow it to pass without her signature.
The Digital Fair Repair Act is the first right-to-repair bill in the nation to pass the state legislature (rather than being enforced by executive order) and is hailed by right-to-repair advocates as “setting a precedent.” Groups like iFixit. The law requires businesses to provide the public with the same diagnostic tools, repair manuals, and parts that they provide to their own repair technicians.
But tech industry lobbyists and industry groups such as TechNet have already worked to weaken the law as it passes through state legislatures, and the bill Hochul signed into law contains even more conditions and exceptions. , ostensibly added to address the governor’s concerns about “technical issues.” Issues that may jeopardize safety and security and increase the risk of injury from physical repair projects. “
“I am pleased to have reached an agreement with Congress to address these issues,” wrote Hochul.
Most notably, only devices manufactured and sold in New York after July 1, 2023 are required to meet the law’s requirements. This excludes all products that exist today (products that people already own and may want to repair at some point in the future). line. Also excluded are “business to business” and “business to business” equipment that is not sold to consumers. And manufacturers won’t have to provide passwords or other tools to circumvent device security his lockout. So it’s probably good for the anti-theft features that Apple and other manufacturers offer for stolen phones, but bad for people locked out of their own. Remove the device because you forgot your password or can’t track your recovery key.
Manufacturers may also choose to provide an “assembly” of parts instead of “where the risk of improper installation increases the risk of injury”. For example, if you want to replace your phone’s display or battery, the company can provide the display and battery with extra cables and other parts attached to them, whether you need those parts or not. This can make repairs more expensive and less attractive.
These compromises build on several broad exemptions already included in the original bill that exclude medical devices, automobiles, off-road equipment, or appliances.
While activists for the Right to Restoration applauded the passage of the bill, they acknowledged that the compromise made the bill weaker than it should have been.
“This is a big win for consumers and a big step forward for the right to repair movements,” writes iFixit CEO Kyle Wiens. in the near future. “
Activist Louis Rossmann said in a video explaining Ho-Chol’s changes to the bill, “I’ve spent seven years of my life trying to get it passed in my home state. It ruined the bill on the right to do so,” he said. “And it’s funny, it got fucked in exactly the same way I thought it would… Passing through without being tainted or screwed is actually good for society and It’s not good for society. [the] The New York state government would allow that to happen.”
