Kathy Hochul, Governor of New York State signed the Digital Fair Repair Act, months after both houses of the state legislature passed with overwhelming bipartisan majorities. The bill originally passed in June, but was not officially sent to Hochul’s office until earlier that month; the governor had until midnight on December 28 to sign the bill into law, veto it, or allow it to become law without his signature.
The Digital Fair Repair Act is the nation’s first right to repair bill that was passed by a state legislature (rather than implemented by executive order) and was hailed as “a precedent,” defending the right to repair . groups like iFixit. The law will require companies to provide the same diagnostic tools, repair manuals and parts to the public that they provide to their own repair technicians.
But tech industry lobbyists and trade groups like TechNet had already worked to weaken the law as it moved through the state legislature, and the bill Hochul signed contains even more conditions and restrictions.
Specifically, only devices manufactured and sold in New York on or after July 1, 2023 will need to meet the law’s requirements, excluding any products that currently exist, those that people already own and may want to fix at some point. line. Business-to-business and business-to-government equipment that is not sold to consumers is also excluded. And manufacturers won’t be required to supply passwords or other tools to bypass device security locks — overall, probably good for the anti-theft features Apple and other manufacturers are offering for stolen phones, but bad for people who are. locked out otherwise functional devices because they forgot a password or can’t find a recovery key.
Manufacturers may also choose to supply “assemblies” of parts instead of individual parts “when the risk of improper installation increases the risk of injury.” If you want to replace your phone’s screen or battery, for example, a company might give you a screen or battery with a bunch of extra wires or other parts attached to it, whether you need those parts or not. . This could drive up the cost of repairs, decreasing their appeal.
These compromises are in addition to some general exemptions already included in the original bill, which exclude medical devices, motor vehicles, off-road equipment or household appliances.
Right to repair activists have welcomed passage of the bill while recognizing that the compromises make it weaker than it should be.
“This is a huge win for consumers and a big step forward for the Right to Repair movement,” wrote iFixit CEO Kyle Wiens. “New York has set a precedent that other states will follow and I hope to see more states pass similar legislation. in the next future.”
“The right to repair bill that I spent seven years of my life trying to pass in my home country was screwed,” activist Louis Rossmann said in a video explaining Hochul’s changes to the bill. “And it’s funny, it’s screwed up exactly like I thought it would… Because to do it without being tainted or messed up would actually be good for society, and that’s not something that [the] The New York State government will allow this to happen.”
