New York just passed the Digital Equity Repair Act (Assembly Bill A7006B), making it one of the few states in the US to do so. Invoice, that is introduced in April 2021passed the senate on June 1 and passed the council today. It is currently being signed (or vetoed) by the governor and will go into effect a year after it becomes law.
The act, titled “Digital Fair Repair Act,” would require OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) “to provide diagnostic and repair information for digital electronic parts and devices.” to independent repair suppliers and consumers if such parts and repair information are also available to OEM authorized repair suppliers.” That means the companies no longer have You can specify where you can bring your device in for repair by restricting access to components or diagnostic information.
If a part is no longer available to the OEM, it will not need to make the part available to everyone. For things that require a lock or security-related authorization, the OEM must “on fair and reasonable terms,” provide the necessary tools or documentation to access or reset such devices. “through appropriate secure release systems.”
The revised version of the bill also states that the proposed requirements would apply to “products over ten dollars” and that the OEM or authorized repair supplier is not required to provide any parts, tools or materials if the intended use is to modify the products. It also excludes public safety communication equipment and “household appliances with digital electronics embedded within them” from the act. Given the way companies are tending to produce smart refrigerators, washing machines, etc., this can be a big flaw or at least exclude a large number of products.
Massachusetts previously passed Its own Digital Correction Rights Act, covered parts or machinery containing microprocessors. The state recently expanded that to include connected cars. Meanwhile, the California State Senate introduced its own bill fix rights in FebruaryThere seems to be bipartisan support.
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