New York state passes world’s first right-to-repair bill

After years of fighting for industry change, the state of New York (US) has passed the world’s first right to repair act that specifically targets digital electronic products such as phones, tablets, and computers. Why is the right to repair so important, what does the new law do, and will it set a precedence for the rest of the world?

Why is the right to repair so important?

When discussing the argument of the right to repair, there are perfectly valid arguments on both sides. Those advocating for the right will often bring up the concept of device ownership and how the act of owning a device should give you the ability to repair it. This line of thinking stems from previous generations whereby vehicles could easily be repaired by anyone, and spare parts would often be available directly from the manufacturer.

As it was the vehicle’s owner’s responsibility to ensure that their vehicle is operating correctly (proper pressure in tyres, brake lights operational, and engineer coolant topped up), maintenance of the vehicle also falls under the responsibility of the owner. Thus, modern electronic devices are the property of their respective owner, and it is their responsibility to ensure that devices are operating correctly and well maintained.

On the other side of the argument, engineers invest vast sums of money and time into products, and the release of their schematic, production files and source code allows other companies to violate the IP of the original designers. Proving IP theft can be tricky, and by the time a court finds a foreign manufacturer guilty of IP theft, the original company may have lost all their funds through litigation and loss of sales. This hampers the ability of companies to invest in new products, and thus technological development stagnates.

However, environmental damage and climate change threats are starting to tip the scales in favour of repair rights. Whether it is the rising cost of precious metals, the large-scale environmental damage from mining operations or the obscene amounts of e-waste being generated globally, being able to breathe new life into old electronics not only helps the environment but also makes electronic devices more affordable.

New York state passes world’s first digital electronics repair bill

While many countries worldwide have started to introduce right-to-repair bills for domestic appliances, vehicles, and other consumer goods, none address the issue of digital electronics such as tablets, laptops, and phones. Now, New York state (US) has passed the world’s first right-to-repair bill that specifically targets these products.

The new bills allow for both independent repair shops and individuals to be given access to parts, tools, data, and software needed to repair devices. Additionally, OEMs are required to provide users access to components used in their product so long as the part in question is still being manufactured, and security features that can be unlocked by the OEM must also be given to the device owner.

“Requires OEMs to make available, for purposes of diagnosis, maintenance, or repair, to any independent repair provider, or to the owner of digital electronic equipment manufactured by or on behalf of, or sold by, the OEM, on fair and reasonable terms, documentation, parts, and tools, inclusive of any updates to information. Nothing in this section requires an OEM to make available a part if the part is no longer available to the OEM. For equipment that contains an electronic security lock or other security-related function, the OEM shall make available to the owner and to independent repair providers, on fair and reasonable terms, any special documentation, tools, and parts needed to access and reset the lock or function when disabled in the course of diagnosis, maintenance, or repair of the equipment. Such documentation, tools, and parts may be made available through appropriate secure release systems.” – Right to repair bill.

One detail of great importance is the access to parts used in the device. Some products are notorious for using custom ICs that cannot be purchased outside of the OEM, and OEMs will only sell these parts to registered repair sites that pay licenses for this privilege. Not only does this restrict who can repair devices, but it can also lead to serious e-waste generation, as demonstrated by Louis Rossmann when describing how an IC needed for a specific Apple repair is obtained by buying a brand-new Apple charger whose IC is removed and the rest of the charger binned.

Will this bill set a precedence for the rest of the world?

Considering that the right to repair devices is already being recognised by major governments, including the US, UK, and EU, there is no doubt that this law will encourage other governments to follow suit. The growing e-waste problem combined with the increasing cost of living will put consumers under increasing amounts of financial pressure when trying to replace older devices, and the advent of remote work will see consumers required to update their IT infrastructure regularly.

Additionally, the growing concerns over privacy and the data stored by devices will encourage consumers to repair devices instead of throwing them away. If a simple repair or update can breathe new life into a device, then it reduces the amount of e-waste and the number of devices being committed to a landfill that could have confidential information internally stored.

In the next two decades, devices will likely be designed with repairability in mind. If there is anything we can learn about modern culture and social media, future manufacturers who provide excellent resources to aid in repair will be praised, and those that try to make repair difficult will be denounced as greedy and toxic that show little to no care for the environment.