2y ago

Calif. passes strongest right-to-repair bill yet, requiring 7 years of parts

California, the home to many of tech's biggest companies and the nation's most populous state, is pushing ahead with a right-to-repair bill for consumer electronics and appliances. After unanimous votes in the state Assembly and Senate, the bill passed yesterday is expected to move through a concurrence vote and be signed by Governor Gavin Newsom.

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2y ago

ars

Calif. passes strongest right-to-repair bill yet, requiring 7 years of parts

arstechnica.com /gadgets/2023/09/calif-passes-strongest-right-to-repair-bill-yet-requiring-7-years-of-parts/

14 comments

As Louis Rossman said: "if Apple is happy about this, I'm worried."

Just wait till apple fucks around and finds out
- Apparently Apple backed it.... Color me confused.
  
  Because it doesn't state anywhere in the law what parts must be supplied and at what price.
  Apple will simply sell the whole mainboard as one unit... and price it at $799 for an $850 phone. The phrasing is "fair and reasonable terms." which Apple can simply say that the whole board is tied together as one item from the get go and therefore is not reasonable to separate for repairs. Further Apple gets the win of
  The bill requires repair vendors that are "not an authorized repair provider" to "provide a written notice of that fact" to customers and to "disclose if it uses replacement parts that are used" or third-party.
  So now there must be a mandatory letter when someone like Louis Rossmann repairs your phone... But Apple doesn't have to do it, even while the first party repair people steal all your data and post your videos to porn sites.
  
  They can see the wind turning. Instead of fighting the current, they'll just try and steer the ship where they want it now.
  
  Then they either have some exemption or end up benefiting from the law in some indirect but significant way.

Still allows for Software blocks/serialization, but small, itty bitty victory I guess.
- I sincerely hope this is included in a follow-up bill, because that's already a big issue and it'll only get worse.

This should be the norm for America. I hope it catches on.

This is the best summary I could come up with:
California, the home to many of tech's biggest companies and the nation's most populous state, is pushing ahead with a right-to-repair bill for consumer electronics and appliances.
"Since Right to Repair can pass here, expect it to be on its way to a backyard near you," said iFixit CEO Kyle Wiens in a statement.
Rather than limiting its demand that companies provide parts, tools, repair manuals, and necessary software for devices that are still actively sold, California requires that vendors provide those items for products sold after July 1, 2021, starting in July 2024.
The bill also provides for stronger enforcement mechanisms, allowing for municipalities to bring superior court cases rather than contact the state attorney general.
Apple specifically advocated for consumer notice of third-party parts and unauthorized repair in its letter supporting the bill.
Apple, notably, made a point of the increased repairability and durability of the titanium-framed iPhone 15 announced yesterday.
The original article contains 436 words, the summary contains 153 words. Saved 65%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!

I read that as caliph before I found out that it's not written with an f in English.

14 comments