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New York Governor Signs Modified Right-to-repair Bill at the Last Minute
Bill passed the state legislature with overwhelming majorities over the summer:
New York state governor Kathy Hochul has signed the Digital Fair Repair Act into law, months after it had passed both chambers of the state's legislature with overwhelming bipartisan majorities. The bill had originally passed in June, but it was only formally sent to Hochul's desk earlier this month; the governor had until midnight on December 28th to sign the bill, veto it, or allow it to pass into law without her signature.
The Digital Fair Repair Act is the country's first right-to-repair bill that has passed through a state legislature (as opposed to being implemented via executive order), and has been hailed as "precedent-setting" by right-to-repair advocacy 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 made its way through the state legislature, and the bill as signed by Hochul contains even more conditions and exceptions, ostensibly added to address the governor's concerns about "technical issues that could put safety and security at risk, as well as heighten the risk of injury from physical repair projects."
"This is a huge victory for consumers and a major step forward for the right to repair movement," wrote iFixit CEO Kyle Wiens. "New York has set a precedent for other states to follow, and I hope to see more states passing similar legislation in the near future."
"The right-to-repair bill that I've spent seven years of my life trying to get passed in my home state got fucked," said activist Louis Rossmann in a video explaining Hochul's changes to the bill. "And it's funny, it got fucked in the exact manner that I thought it would... Because it getting passed without being tainted or screwed with would actually be good for society, and that's not something that [the] New York state government is going to allow to happen."
New York Passes Right To Repair Bill, However Last Minute Changes Make It Useless For Most Consumers
New York Passes Right To Repair Bill:
New York's bill is meant for small electronic devices, with things like home appliances, vehicles, medical devices, and off-road equipment exempted by name. It aims to give consumers access to things that could help them self-repair things they've purchased, such as manuals, diagrams, diagnostic tools, and parts.
Companies have also preempted the rise of right to repair programs by bringing in or planning their own self-repair schemes. Samsung, which has paired with iFixit, launched its right to repair program in early 2022. Apple promised a right to repair program was on its way back in 2021 before launching it several months later. Companies like Apple have also been steadfastly against the implementation of any kind of right to repair law, preferring to retain a lot of control over how their devices can be serviced. New York's new bill could leave a lot of that control in the hands of manufacturers instead of empowering device owners like it was supposed to.
Despite the bill being signed into law, there has been plenty of suggestion that the amendments have left it neutered. Changes made to the original bill include giving manufacturers the right to provide "assemblies of parts" instead of individual components. A requirement that manufacturers provide "passwords, security codes, and materials to override security features" to the public has also been dropped. Finally, the rules only apply to devices manufactured "on or after July 1 2023," so if you buy a new iPhone on June 30, 2023, you're out of luck in a legal sense.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by canopic jug on Saturday December 31, @12:31PM (1 child)
The bill did pass with an overwhelming majority this summer yet the actual law which was signed into force by Governor Hochul is sabotaged in such a way as to defeat the very spirit of the law. Furthermore, Hochul was even parroting the lobbyists' talking points in her announcement. Louis Rossmann addressed this sabotage in two recent videos.
In the first one, he goes over the tactics used to put massive loophole into the text which basically neutralizes the intent of the law. The vendors have been using "safety" and "security" as excuses to avoid providing components, and now that excuse is written into the law, thus making it an official reason to continue avoiding providing components for sale. Additionally, they can bundle components into "assemblies" to raise replacement costs to prohibitive levels -- as they have been doing all along.
In the second one, he speaks with a journalist from News10 about exactly why the changes have fully sabotaged the spirit of the bill and how seven years of work are basically down the drain. Adding insult to injury is the fact that the tile of the law remains the same as the bill, even if it is functionally opposite, thus causing misinformed and disinformed sources to crow, incorrectly, about a right to repair law being enacted.
Money is not free speech. Elections should not be auctions.
(Score: 3, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday December 31, @01:55PM
Actual legislation:
https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2021/S4104 [nysenate.gov]
https://legislation.nysenate.gov/pdf/bills/2021/s4104a [nysenate.gov]
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Hearsay on the bird site, text below: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FlHtbaRWAAEdwdv?format=png [twimg.com]
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State of New York
Executive Chamber
Albany 12224
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December 28, 2022
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Approval #93
Chapter #810
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MEMORANDUM filed with Senate Bill 4104-A, entitled:
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"AN ACT to ammend the general business law, in relation to the sale of
digital electronic equipment and providing diagnostic and repair
information."
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APPROVED
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This bill requires original equipment manufacturers of digital electronic products to
provide materials to product owners and independent repair providers in New York to facilitate
repairs. Such naterials include documents like manuals and diagrams, and tools like diagnostics
and parts. The bill excepts certain products and industries from the bill's requirements, including
home appliances, motor vehicles, medical deices, and off-road equipment.
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As technology and smart devices become increasingly essential to the lives of New
Yorkers, it is important for consumers to be able to fix the devices that they rely on in a timely
fashion. This legislation would enhance consumer options in the repair markets by granting them
greater access to parts, tools and documents needed for repairs. Encouraging consuners to
maximize the lifespan of their devices through repairs is a laudable goal to save money and reduce
electronic waste.
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The legislation as drafted included technical issues that could put safety and securitey at
risk, as well as heighten the risk of injury from physical repair projects, and I am please to have
reached an agreement with the legislature to address these issues. This agreement eliminates the
bill's original requirement calling for original equipment manufactureres to provide the public
any passwords, security codes or materials to override security features, and allows for original
equipment manufacturers may provide assemblies of parts rather than individual components when
the risk of improper installation heightens the risk of injury. We have also agreed to clarify that
original equipment manufacturers, who either contract with authorized third-party repair shops or
who themselves offer repair services, are required to provide parts, tools and documents at
reasonable costs to device owners and independent repair shops to facilitate repair, and that digital
products that are the subject of business-to-business or business-to-government sales and that
otherwise are not offered for sale by retailers, are exempt. Finally, we have agreed to changes to
ensure original equipment manufacturers will not be required to license any intellectual property,
and that this new law's requirements will apply to digital electronic equipment that is both
manufactured for the first time as well as sold or used in New Your for the first time on or after
July 1, 2023.
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Base on this agreement, I am please to sign this bill into law.
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This bill is approved.
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[apparent signature of Kathy Hochul]