New York’s right-to-repair bill has major carve-outs for manufacturers

During the lull between Christmas and New Year's, New York State became one of the first in the country to pass a "right to repair" law. The Digital Fair Repair Act will go into effect in New York on July 1st.

Which devices are covered by the Digital FairRepairAct? There's a lot of that. Cars, home appliances, medical devices, off-road equipment and enterprise devices are some of the carve outs.

The legislation only applies to gadgets manufactured after July 1, and doesn't require manufacturers to give security unlocking codes for repairs. If they think the risk of improper installation heightens the risk of injury, they can decline to deliver certain components.

The exceptions were added at the last moment with the approval of Governor Kathy Hochul, who said in a statement that they are intended to reduce the risk of security issues and physical harm. Advocates like Louis Rossman, who runs a MacBook repair shop, are skeptical that the amendments will be exploited by manufacturers.

Last year, representatives for Microsoft and Apple asked Hochul's office for changes. TechNet, which represents tech companies, did the same. The previous version of the bill was supported by both houses of the New York state legislature and was signed into law.

The Public Interest Research Groups said in a statement last week that the changes could limit the benefits for school computers and most products currently in use. The bill excludes certain smartphone circuit boards from parts the manufacturers are required to sell and requires repair shops to post unwieldy warranty language.

According to Rossman, Apple will be able to serialize components after a repair, preventing independent repairers from repairing devices with spare parts. He said in a video that the manufacturer will tell you to replace the $745 Motherboard if you have a bad chip on it.

The Digital FairRepair Act is one of a number of bills that aim to expand repair options for consumer devices. A lack of documentation, poor spare parts access and software restrictions are limiting consumer choice, according to supporters of the legislation. In order to protect their intellectual property, authorized repairs are necessary.

President Joe Biden signed an executive order that called on the FTC to ban anticompetitive restrictions on using independent repair shops. Anticipating new regulations, companies such as Valve and Apple began to sell parts for their products.