The New York State Senate has overwhelmingly voted to pass right to repair legislation that could force manufacturers to make it easier for customers and repair shops to fix their devices.
The New York State Senate voted 51 to 12 to pass the Digital Fair Repair Act, becoming the country’s first legislative body to approve a right to repair bill. The bill requires that original equipment manufacturers (OEM) provide the proprietary information and resources needed for repairs available for sale to third-party repair providers and consumers.
According to the text, it “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 or embedded software.”
To become law in New York, the bill still needs to pass the state’s assembly and then be signed by the governor. The current New York State Assembly version of the bill is stalled, but lobbyists are working to get it passed.
“Nothing prevents third party repairers from being technically competent to complete repairs other than the lack of information being withheld by manufacturers,” the bill states.
Although it would compel companies to share detailed information about devices, the bill specifically does not include trade secrets.