Credit: Robert Triggs / Android Authority
- New York’s Digital Fair Repair Act is the first comprehensive Right to Repair bill to pass in the United States.
- Unfortunately, the bill got nerfed at the last minute.
- There are now plenty of exceptions companies can exploit to avoid changing much in response to the bill.
The Right to Repair movement can chalk up a significant win to close out 2022. In New York this week, governor Kathy Hochul signed the Digital Fair Repair Act. Although this isn’t the first Right to Repair bill to pass in a state, it is the most comprehensive yet.
The bill makes it law that consumers and independent repair providers must have access to manuals, diagrams, diagnostics, and parts from all OEMs that do business in the state. While that sounds great, the bill had some last-minute amendments added that essentially make it toothless.