During the lull between last Christmas and New Year’s Day, New York state became one of the first in the nation to pass a “right to repair” law — albeit with changed language that some advocates say makes the law toothless. The New York regulations, called the Digital Fair Repair Act and scheduled to go into effect on July 1, require manufacturers to provide owners and independent repairers with the manuals, parts, diagnostics and diagrams necessary to repair consumer devices.
Which devices exactly are covered by the Digital Fair Repair Act? Well, a lot – basically everything that constitutes “digital electronic equipment.” However, there are some cutouts, including cars, home appliances, medical equipment, off-road equipment and enterprise devices used by data centers, schools and hospitals.
Moreover, the legislation only applies to gadgets manufactured after July 1 and does not require manufacturers to voluntarily provide any security unlock codes needed to repair the device. It also allows the same manufacturers to refuse to supply certain components if they believe that “the risk of improper installation increases the risk of injury.”
Most of these exceptions were added at the eleventh hour with the approval of Gov. Kathy Hochul, who in a statement said they were intended to reduce the risk of safety issues and physical harm when repairs are made. Supporters such as Louis Rossman, who runs a MacBook repair shop, expressed immediate skepticism, however, arguing that manufacturers would use the patches for their own purposes.
Representatives from Microsoft and Apple pushed for changes to Hochul’s office, Ars Technica reported last year. The industry association TechNet, which represents technology companies including Amazon, Google and Yahoo, TechCrunch’s parent company, did the same. A previous version of the bill won broad bipartisan support, passing the New York State Assembly by a 147-2 vote and the Senate by a 59-4 vote, but it languished on the governor’s desk for months.
“Such changes could limit benefits for school computers and most products currently in use,” Public Interest Research Groups, a collective of consumer rights organizations, he said Engadget in a statement last week. “Even more disturbing is that the bill now excludes some smartphone circuit boards from the parts manufacturers are required to sell and requires repair shops to include cumbersome warranty language.”
Rossman points out that under the Digital Fair Repair Act, companies like Apple would still be able to serialize components after repair, preventing independent repair shops from repairing devices using replacement parts – even original parts removed from the same product. “(The) manufacturer will tell you that if you have a defective $28 chip on your motherboard, you have to replace the motherboard for $745,” he said in a video response to part of the bill.
The Digital Fair Repair Act is one of a series of recent bills introduced in more than 40 states aimed at expanding consumer device repair options. Supporters of the legislation say a lack of documentation, poor access to spare parts and software limitations limit consumer choice. Manufacturers deny that authorized repairs are necessary to ensure quality and protect their intellectual property.
Last year, President Joe Biden signed an executive order calling on the U.S. Federal Trade Commission to prohibit “anticompetitive restrictions on the use of independent repair shops or on the DIY repair of its own devices and equipment.” Anticipating the new regulations, companies such as Google, Apple, Samsung and Valve have started providing repair manuals and selling parts for some of their products.