New York becomes first state to sign right-to-repair legislation, but some R2R advocates...

[Cal Jeffrey]

A hot potato: The right-to-repair movement has had a long and arduous journey. Consumers and advocacy groups have lobbied for legislation to give equipment owners an avenue for repairs other than the high-priced options from OEMs. However, manufacturers have spent just as much or more time and money in opposition to proposed bills, and the first to finally make it into law didn't get through unscathed.

This week, New York became the first state to sign a right-to-repair (R2R) bill into law. State legislators passed the Digital Fair Repair Act (DFRA) with strong bipartisan support in June. Newly elected governor Kathy Hochul had until midnight on December 28 to either veto, sign, or let the bill pass without signing.

As of April 2021, 27 US states had bills banning companies in various sectors from restricting consumer equipment repair. Governor Hochul's approval marks the first of those states to pass a law in favor of the R2R movement. However, some proponents were disappointed that the legislation received changes in the eleventh hour.

Among the controversial last-minute amendments was the application of the law to devices manufactured after July 1, 2023 — the date the DFRA goes into effect. So companies will not have to provide parts, tools, or manuals for currently owned equipment. Additionally, the law will not apply to devices sold to enterprise customers or the government.

New: Gov. Hochul has signed the "right to repair" law — with the Legislature agreeing to a number of changes, as outlined in her approval message. pic.twitter.com/GUBExlj5BD

— Jon Campbell (@JonCampbellNY) December 29, 2022

Manufacturers will also not be required to provide tools for circumventing security protocols, even to users who have legitimately locked themselves out of their devices. While some R2R activists take offense to this addendum, it makes sense that companies protect their customers by not creating ways to break security. Otherwise they will end up dealing with a whole other set of activists and government officials.

The most controversial modification of the bill was the amendment that OEMs can provide assemblies of components rather than individual components for "safety" reasons. Right-to-repair activist Louis Rossmann went on a caffeine-fueled rant on his YouTube channel about how Hochul "sabotaged" the bill he had spent seven years of his life trying to get through, calling the changed bill "functionally useless."

"The right-to-repair bill that I've spent seven years of my life trying to get passed in my home state got f***ed," said Rossmann. "And it's funny; it got f***ed 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."

Other R2R proponents, such as iFixit, were pleased with the law's passage and heralded it as an "unprecedented" move in the right direction that other states should follow.

"This is a huge victory for consumers and a major step forward for the right to repair movement," said 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."

Wiens acknowledged that the last-minute changes did weaken the language and create loopholes manufacturers could exploit in certain circumstances. Otherwise, the repair advocate thinks that the law is something other states can use as an example and build on while closing those loopholes.

Image credit: Alla Serebrina

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https://www.techspot.com/news/97116-new-york-becomes-first-state-sign-right-repair.html

 

[envirovore]

I can't blame Rossman for being pissed, she totally f*cked this up and made it absolutely ineffective. Fail for the state I live in, hard.
That the Ifixit guy thinks this solves anything and that this amended version is great just cemented that I'll not be purchasing any of their products ever as well.

 

[yRaz]

Uhm, the problem with this bill is that they removed the part that allowes people to replace individual components with entire board replacements "for the users safety"

So when you want to replace a battery that OS glued to your phones screen you have to replace the "whole assembly" for hundreds of dollars instead of replacing a $10 battery.

This bill has done nothing basically nothing for right to repair. It is still just as expensive to repair a device as it is to buy a new one.

And, frankly, this is shotty reporting because you don't talk about how the last minute ammendments to the bill, which were made after it passed new york house and senate, make the entire thing useless.

 

[lripplinger]

Louis Rossmann was 100% correct. The bill has been screwed six ways from Sunday. The lobbying firms that the mega corporations like Apple, John Deere, etc. hire should be made illegal. No more money from special interests to government should be allowed.

 

[psycros]

Every time the government says their on your side, grab the Vasoline.

 

[return]

Disgusting and as expected. Kathy Hochul made a big $$$ for that last minute edit.

 

[punctualturn]

Another proof that we literally have the best government that money can buy.

 

[nulll]

Yet another example of the obvious graft infesting the scaffolding of our societies. With any luck the legal beagles of the internet will unearth something particularly damning for an adventurous maverick to pursue while picking through the specifics of the edits made the body of the legislation after it had been nearly unanimously voted forward. The western system could work so very well save for the apparent complete lack of character displayed by those vying for political position.

 

[m4a4]

but some R2R advocates are not impressed

**but most people who understand how castrated the bill now is because of the governor (despite an overwhelming majority voting in favour of the bill) are not impressed

 

[Underdog]

Democracy will always be tainted as long as cash rich lobbyists are allowed to influence the decision makers.
Tobacco companies, fracking companies, big pharma, agri-chemical companies, etc. all with profit driven motives and politicians on the payroll. A flawed system.

 

[masaaya4]

I have tried several times to take a product to a repair service company, and they recommended not to repair the product, because the repair price matched or exceeded the price of a new, equivalent product.

untill this type of problem is solved, we won't get anywhere.

whatever the solution is - stopping the greedy manufacturers, removing VAT on repairs, bringing back the concept of replacing components and not entire boards or units, countries needs to start doing something before we exhaust the planets resources.

 

[silversea]

I only have but one thing to say, a total waste of good ink! the Great State of New York should be ashamed of themselves for even considering passing this so called RTR bill, your governor needs to go back to school to figure out what Right to Repair is all about, then sit down and rewrite the RTR Bill so the people of your state know you care.

 

[Bobbydpue]

I can't blame Rossman for being pissed, she totally f*cked this up and made it absolutely ineffective. Fail for the state I live in, hard.
That the Ifixit guy thinks this solves anything and that this amended version is great just cemented that I'll not be purchasing any of their products ever as well.

"Wiens acknowledged that the last-minute changes did weaken the language and create loopholes manufacturers could exploit in certain circumstances."

 

[Cal Jeffrey]

Uhm, the problem with this bill is that they removed the part that allowes people to replace individual components with entire board replacements "for the users safety"

So when you want to replace a battery that OS glued to your phones screen you have to replace the "whole assembly" for hundreds of dollars instead of replacing a $10 battery.

This bill has done nothing basically nothing for right to repair. It is still just as expensive to repair a device as it is to buy a new one.

And, frankly, this is shotty reporting because you don't talk about how the last minute ammendments to the bill, which were made after it passed new york house and senate, make the entire thing useless.

Come on. Shoddy is a bit harsh. I included Rossman's entire rant, but re-reading, I can see your point if you didn't watch the video. I'll introduce it a bit better. Thanks for the feedback.

 

[yRaz]

Come on. Shoddy is a bit harsh. I included Rossman's entire rant, but re-reading, I can see your point if you didn't watch the video. I'll introduce it a bit better. Thanks for the feedback.

I enjoy your writing but if you watched Rossman's video he specifically mentioned that journalists would misreport this in the exact fashion you did and that makes it even less forgivable. So if you really did watch his video I'm doubling down on my critizism of this being shoddy reporting.

 

[Cal Jeffrey]

I enjoy your writing but if you watched Rossman's video he specifically mentioned that journalists would misreport this in the exact fashion you did and that makes it even less forgivable. So if you really did watch his video I'm doubling down on my critizism of this being shoddy reporting.

My job as a journalist is to present both sides and not editorialize the article. I agree the bill has been neutered, but it's not my job to tell you my opinion.

 

[yRaz]

My job as a journalist is to present both sides and not editorialize the article. I agree the bill has been neutered, but it's not my job to tell you my opinion.

It is not an opinion that the right to repair bill that was passed was audited at the last moment into something that nullifies its intended purpose. A purpose that was overwhelmingly bipartisanly approved by everyone in New York. It's also your job as a journalist to report the implications of said neutering to consumers. It is not an opinion that by eliminating availability of components for board level repair and instead only allowing module replacement dramatically increases cost of repairs to consumers. It is also no an opinion that this does nothing to help save peoples data on a device. Many repair programs either require a device to be wiped or the solidstate memory is on a motherboard. Well, if the charge controller on the main board of your phone dies and you can only "fix it" by replacing the board with integrate storage with another one then your data is gone. This isn't just about costs, it's also about data recovery and actually owning a device you pay for.

I know I'm being brash, but it is your job as a journalist to report those things and it's your job to report that these "amendments" were made hours before it was signed into law. The bill signed by the governor was not the bill passed by the state house and senate.

And to put things fully into perspective, it's downright shameful that a weird guy who swears a lot on youtube has reported this more accurately than the mainstream media while also predicting exactly how the mainstream media would misreport this.

I want to say sorry because you're one of my favorite writers on here and there is a lot of harsh criticism in what I just wrote, but you really failed your job as a journalist in your initial reporting

 

[Cal Jeffrey]

It is not an opinion that the right to repair bill that was passed was audited at the last moment into something that nullifies its intended purpose. A purpose that was overwhelmingly bipartisanly approved by everyone in New York. It's also your job as a journalist to report the implications of said neutering to consumers. It is not an opinion that by eliminating availability of components for board level repair and instead only allowing module replacement dramatically increases cost of repairs to consumers. It is also no an opinion that this does nothing to help save peoples data on a device. Many repair programs either require a device to be wiped or the solidstate memory is on a motherboard. Well, if the charge controller on the main board of your phone dies and you can only "fix it" by replacing the board with integrate storage with another one then your data is gone. This isn't just about costs, it's also about data recovery and actually owning a device you pay for.

I know I'm being brash, but it is your job as a journalist to report those things and it's your job to report that these "amendments" were made hours before it was signed into law. The bill signed by the governor was not the bill passed by the state house and senate.

And to put things fully into perspective, it's downright shameful that a weird guy who swears a lot on youtube has reported this more accurately than the mainstream media while also predicting exactly how the mainstream media would misreport this.

I want to say sorry because you're one of my favorite writers on here and there is a lot of harsh criticism in what I just wrote, but you really failed your job as a journalist in your initial reporting

I appreciate your feedback.

 

[envirovore]

"Wiens acknowledged that the last-minute changes did weaken the language and create loopholes manufacturers could exploit in certain circumstances."

I saw that and frankly if he actually felt that way then that's all he would have said instead of praising it first. Given the nature of the business he runs he's fully aware of how damaging these changes are, and that in the end this bill amounts to nothing.
He's just trying to save face with that remark.

 

[MakeMSGreatAgain]

Stupid government bureaucrats ruining stuff with their corrupt ideals and agendas. What's new? VOTE THEIR ARSES OUT!

 

[yannus]

"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."

Everything is said here and it applies to most (all?) governments.

 

[punctualturn]

but it's not my job to tell you my opinion.

If we had more writers and reviewers with that mindset, we would be in a way better place.

Instead, we are at the mercy of countless influencers that call themselves reviewers and tech experts.

Thanks for your honest work.