New York just enacted the digital fair repair act (Assembly Bill A7006B), making it one of only a few states in the US to do so. The bill, proposed in April 2021, was passed by the Senate on June 1st and by the Assembly. It is currently on its way to the governor for signature (or veto) and will go into effect a year after it is signed.
The “Digital Fair Repair Act,” will mandate OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) to “make diagnostic and repair information for digital electronic parts and equipment available to independent repair providers and consumers if such parts and repair information are also available to OEM authorized repair providers.” This implies that companies can no longer control where you can bring your devices to be fixed by restricting access to components or diagnostic data.
If an OEM no longer has access to a part, the OEM is not required to make the identical part available to everyone. For objects that require security-related locks or authorizations, the OEM must give the tools or documents required to access or reset such devices “on fair and reasonable terms, through appropriate secure release systems.”
The amended version of the bill also indicates that the proposed restrictions will apply to “products with a value over ten dollars” and that OEMs or authorized repair professionals are not required to make any parts, tools, or documentation available if the intended purpose is for product modification. The act also exempts public safety communications equipment and “home appliances with digital electronics embedded within them” from its provisions. Given the trend of firms producing smart fridges, washing machines, and other items, this could possibly be a major loophole or, at the very least, omit a big number of products. Massachusetts had earlier established its own Digital Right to Repair Act, which included microprocessor-containing parts or machines. This has lately been expanded by the state to include linked autos. Similarly, in February, the California State Senate presented its own law on the right to repair, which seems to have bipartisan support.
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