The FTC is seeking public comment on a proposal to update the Energy Labeling Rule and require manufacturers to provide consumers with repair instructions. It’s “vital” for the agency to use every tool available to “vindicate Americans’ right to repair their own products,” Chair Lina Khan said in a statement, calling it a continuation from the FTC’s July 2021 policy statement on right to repair (see 2107210061). The agency is exploring whether consumer and independent repair shops would benefit from having repair information “more widely available on energy labels,” said Khan. This could have implications for everything from televisions and washing machines to air conditioners and water heaters, she said. The commission voted 5-0 approving publication of an Advance NPRM. Commissioner Christine Wilson advocated for reviewing the labeling rule's “more prescriptive aspects,” such as highly specific requirements for the presentation of the labels.
“Genuine” Google parts are available for purchase at the iFixit online store for the Pixel 2 through Pixel 6 for consumers who want to repair their own smartphones, blogged the right-to-repair advocacy company Thursday. All the “most important” parts are available at launch in markets where Pixel phones are sold, including screens, batteries, charging ports, adhesives and rear cameras, it said. A “full selection” of Pixel 6a parts will be available in the fall, plus a full set of repair guides, it said. Parts can be bought individually or as “complete-solution” fix kits that include all the necessary tools, it said. “Since we’ve been working with the Google Pixel team, they’ve made some serious repairability gains,” said iFixit. Since the Pixel 3, which earned a 4 out of 10 rating on iFixit’s “repairability scale,” no Pixel phone “has scored lower than a respectable 6 out of 10,” it said.
It’s unclear whether tech companies that challenge New York’s new right-to-repair legislation in the courts would sue right away or wait closer to the effective date a year after Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) signs the measure into law before taking action, said a lawyer familiar with the legislation. “There’s nothing in the constitution that says states can’t regulate interstate commerce,” said the lawyer on background. “It just gives that authority to the Congress and by implication, states are not allowed to go outside of their boundaries” by impairing or creating an undue burden on interstate commerce, said the lawyer. The New York bill was written carefully to say that it applies only to products or equipment sold in New York or to repair providers that operate in New York, said the attorney. But there's already talk among right-to-repair advocates about the wider-ranging interstate commerce implications of the New York law, including those who say nothing would stop a consumer or independent repair shop from buying the parts from a New York entity and having them shipped to California (see 2206060031). Other advocates have cautioned that a legal challenge to the law is a virtual certainty. CTA, then doing business as the Consumer Electronics Association, went to court in 2009, seeking an injunction against New York City’s e-waste law on grounds it illegally exceeded the authority of the city to regulate interstate commerce by violating the Dormant Commerce Clause doctrine of constitutional law (see 0907280100). The complaint argued the program violated the doctrine by imposing burdens on interstate commerce that far outweighed the local benefits to city residents. The suit was withdrawn about two years later when New York enacted a statewide e-waste law that superseded the door-to-door collections require in the city law. CTA didn’t respond to queries seeking comment on its ambitions to challenge New York’s right-to-repair law in the courts.
For centuries, it has been a “fundamental right of owning something that it is yours -- it belongs to you, and you control what happens to it,” emailed George Slover, Center for Democracy & Technology senior counsel-competition policy, in praise of New York’s passage of the nation’s first electronics right-of-repair legislation (see 2206030034). If a product breaks, “you can get it fixed where you want, or fix it yourself if you can,” said Slover, former Consumer Reports senior policy counsel. “Consumers should not lose this right just because the product now comes with electronics inside it,” he said. The New York legislation “restores that fundamental right of choice to consumers, giving them greater ability to get their electronics-enabled products fixed more conveniently and more affordably,” said Slover. “By opening up the repair aftermarket to competition, it gives independent technicians the opportunity to offer this service to consumers -- just like cobblers and blacksmiths and seamstresses have been able to do."
Though right-to-repair advocates expect the tech lobby “will continue to fight” freedom of repair legislation in the states, “we don’t see a legal challenge” to New York’s Digital Fair Repair Act as “viable,” emailed Elizabeth Chamberlain, iFixit director-sustainability. The New York Assembly, on a 145-1 vote, sent the legislation to the desk of Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) Friday (see 2206030034). New York senators approved the legislation 59-4 earlier in the week. “The Digital Fair Repair Act passed with a veto-proof majority in both houses,” said Chamberlain Monday. “It’s overwhelmingly favored by the electorate,” she said. A recent Consumer Reports poll found 84% of Americans “support legislation exactly like this,” she said. “We expect many more states to follow New York and a legal challenge in all these places would be futile. We welcome productive dialogue with manufacturers to inform future regulations.”
A New York state digital right-to-repair bill can be scheduled for Assembly floor vote after getting a green light Tuesday from the Codes Committee at a livestreamed hearing. The panel’s Democrats voted yes, while Republicans voted no, to report A-7006 to the Rules Committee. Also, the committee cleared A-7865 to require social platforms to provide reporting mechanisms for hateful conduct.
New Yorkers could gain a digital right to repair under a bill cleared on a bipartisan basis Tuesday by the Assembly Consumer Affairs and Protection Committee. The panel voted 14-2, with two of four Republicans in favor, to report A-7006 to the Codes Committee. Also at the livestreamed hearing, all four GOP members unsuccessfully voted to stop the Democratic majority from holding a Republican bill (A-8246) that would have exempted real estate agents from a ban on unsolicited telemarketing sales calls during declared disasters and other states of emergency. Advocates are still searching for the first state to pass an electronic right-to-repair bill, amid continued opposition from industry groups (see 2204060043).
Apple announced Wednesday it’s “finally rolling out” the self-service repair program it debuted in November to make genuine Apple parts, tools and manuals available for consumers who are comfortable servicing their own devices (see 2111170034), but there’s “a catch,” blogged iFixit Director-Sustainability Elizabeth Chamberlain. There’s “a lot to be excited about” in the program’s details, including seven years’ worth of parts availability and retail sales of tools “that only official Apple techs could get before,” she said. But Apple is “doubling down on their parts pairing strategy, enabling only very limited, serial number-authorized repairs,” said Chamberlain. Consumers can’t buy key parts without a serial number, she said. “If you use an aftermarket part, there’s an ‘unable to verify’ warning waiting for you.” Apple’s strategy “hamstrings third-party repair with feature loss and scare tactics and could dramatically limit options for recyclers and refurbishers, short-circuiting the circular economy,” she said. Though the Apple program is “a great step for repair, and a change of course for the mighty Apple,” it doesn’t do what right-to-repair legislation around the world aims to do -- “give independent repair shops a chance to compete in the repair marketplace, bringing down the cost of repairs for everyone,” she said. Apple didn’t comment.
Google will make “genuine” Pixel parts available for purchase later this year at iFixit.com for Pixel 2 through Pixel 6 Pro phones, plus future Pixel models, in the U.S., U.K., Canada, Australia and EU countries where Pixel is available, blogged Ana Corrales, Google chief operating officer-consumer hardware. The “full range” of parts for “common Pixel phone repairs,” including batteries, replacement displays and cameras, will be sold individually or in iFixit Fix Kits, which include tools like screwdriver bits and spudgers, Corrales said Friday. “Improving repairability is an important way to help extend the life and usefulness of your phone,” she said. IFixit CEO Kyle Wiens hailed the development, blogging Friday that "if we’re going to build a sustainable electronics industry, consumers must have options to repair products themselves." Google is making repair "more affordable and accessible, even in places without repair shops,” he said.
With Wednesday’s introduction of the 2022 Fair Repair Act by Sens. Ben Ray Lujan D-N.M., Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., and Ron Wyden, D-Ore., both houses of Congress “for the first time ever” are considering an electronics right-to-repair bill, blogged iFixit. Rep. Joseph Morelle, D-N.Y., introduced the House Fair Repair Act in June. “Though the bills have small differences in the wording of definitions,” said iFixit Wednesday, "both have the same effect: If they pass, manufacturers won’t be able to maintain their monopolies on repair.” Consumers should “all be able to fix what we own, and the Fair Repair Act takes a huge step toward a more repairable future,” said iFixit CEO Kyle Wiens. “The iFixit community has been demanding this solution for decades: Manufacturers should make parts, tools, and repair information available to everyone who needs to fix their gadgets.” Whether it's a smartphone or a tractor in need of repair, "this legislation will help all consumers,” said Lujan of the Senate bill.