SoylentNews

New York Governor Signs Modified Right-to-repair Bill at the Last Minute

upstart writes:

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

upstart writes:

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.

Original Submission