How Big Tech Rewrote America's First Cell Phone Repair Law (grist.org) 40
Two non-profit news site, the Markup and Grist, have co-published their investigation into how big tech rewrote America's first cellphone repair law.
"That New York passed any electronics right-to-repair bill is 'huge,' Repair.org executive director Gay Gordon-Byrne told Grist. But 'it could have been huger' if not for tech industry interference." The passage of the Digital Fair Repair Act last June reportedly caught the tech industry off guard, but it had time to act before Governor Kathy Hochul would sign it into law. Corporate lobbyists went to work, pressing for exemptions and changes that would water the bill down. They were largely successful: While the bill Hochul signed in late December remains a victory for the right-to-repair movement, the more corporate-friendly text gives consumers and independent repair shops less access to parts and tools than the original proposal called for. (The state Senate still has to vote to adopt the revised bill, but it's widely expected to do so.)
The new version of the law applies only to devices built after mid-2023, so it won't help people to fix stuff they currently own. It also exempts electronics used exclusively by businesses or the government. All those devices are likely to become electronic waste faster than they would have had Hochul, a Democrat, signed a tougher bill. And more greenhouse gases will be emitted manufacturing new devices to replace broken electronics....
Jessa Jones, who founded iPad Rehab, an independent repair shop in Honeoye Falls, about 20 miles south of Rochester, New York, says the original bill included provisions that would have made it far easier for independent shops like hers to get the tools, parts, and know-how needed to make repairs. She pointed to changes that allow manufacturers to release repair tools that only work with spare parts they make, while at the same time controlling how those spare parts are used... "If you keep going down this road, allowing manufacturers to force us to use their branded parts and service, where they're allowed to tie the function of the device to their branded parts and service, that's not repair," Jones said. "That's authoritarian control."
The bill's sponsor believes it could create momentum for dozens of other states trying to pass similar laws, the article points out, possibly leading ultimately to one national agreement between electronics manufacturers and the repair community. A lawmaker from another state argued that New York's law "gives us something to work from. We're going to take that now and try to do a better piece of legislation."
Thanks to long-time Slashdot reader Z00L00K for submitting the article.
"That New York passed any electronics right-to-repair bill is 'huge,' Repair.org executive director Gay Gordon-Byrne told Grist. But 'it could have been huger' if not for tech industry interference." The passage of the Digital Fair Repair Act last June reportedly caught the tech industry off guard, but it had time to act before Governor Kathy Hochul would sign it into law. Corporate lobbyists went to work, pressing for exemptions and changes that would water the bill down. They were largely successful: While the bill Hochul signed in late December remains a victory for the right-to-repair movement, the more corporate-friendly text gives consumers and independent repair shops less access to parts and tools than the original proposal called for. (The state Senate still has to vote to adopt the revised bill, but it's widely expected to do so.)
The new version of the law applies only to devices built after mid-2023, so it won't help people to fix stuff they currently own. It also exempts electronics used exclusively by businesses or the government. All those devices are likely to become electronic waste faster than they would have had Hochul, a Democrat, signed a tougher bill. And more greenhouse gases will be emitted manufacturing new devices to replace broken electronics....
Jessa Jones, who founded iPad Rehab, an independent repair shop in Honeoye Falls, about 20 miles south of Rochester, New York, says the original bill included provisions that would have made it far easier for independent shops like hers to get the tools, parts, and know-how needed to make repairs. She pointed to changes that allow manufacturers to release repair tools that only work with spare parts they make, while at the same time controlling how those spare parts are used... "If you keep going down this road, allowing manufacturers to force us to use their branded parts and service, where they're allowed to tie the function of the device to their branded parts and service, that's not repair," Jones said. "That's authoritarian control."
The bill's sponsor believes it could create momentum for dozens of other states trying to pass similar laws, the article points out, possibly leading ultimately to one national agreement between electronics manufacturers and the repair community. A lawmaker from another state argued that New York's law "gives us something to work from. We're going to take that now and try to do a better piece of legislation."
Thanks to long-time Slashdot reader Z00L00K for submitting the article.
Democrats collude (Score:1, Insightful)
Re: Democrats collude (Score:2)
Yes, I'm sure the Trump proposal for the right to repair bill was much better. What? He didn't have one? I'm sure that in hindsight he thought of it, and that made it almost law.
And yes this bill is watered down, but at least its a step forward. Now let's see how Republicans do where they have power.
And btw, Democrats aren't socialists. They're merely the smarter political fraction of capitalism as opposed to the oil and coal club.
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Maybe it makes them feel better if they have someone to blame for how poor they are.
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Corrupt influences from American style oligarchs work to undermine democratic government. period. One party however has been for sale for decades and purging their own for decades and that party is the GOP. You can cite failures of the disorganized Democratic Party and their corrupted members and how they are often the "Washington Generals" of the rigged game... but one party continues to become more blatant while the frogs get boiled... It's like bad cop vs good cop but some people just are not smart enou
Yeah, they already know (Score:2, Troll)
If you keep going down this road, allowing manufacturers to force us to use their branded parts and service, where they're allowed to tie the function of the device to their branded parts and service, that's not repair," Jones said. "That's authoritarian control.
In the case of iFans at least, say they prefer authoritarian control. They say it even right here in the comments on slashdot how terrible it would be if people could install their own apps without approval from Apple for example.
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I remember a time (Score:4, Insightful)
A time when, if tech people wanted a thing that did a thing, they made it,
instead of whining that someone hasn't made it for them just how they like.
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A time when, if tech people wanted a thing that did a thing, they made it,
instead of whining that someone hasn't made it for them just how they like.
Which is great, really, but specialization is a thing. There is no way any individual has the time or resources to make all the things they may want or need, unless you also want to argue that they should also live in the woods, one with nature or something like that. Now, a lot of commercial products are absolute garbage, and sometimes people with the skills to make them are better off making it themselves than buying anything on the market, but it's just not universally the case. Then there's the question
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A time when, if tech people wanted a thing that did a thing, they made it,
I remember a time when home computers were made with through-hole components. And I'm shaking my fist at a cloud about it right now.
Note which party is responsible (Score:2, Troll)
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The Democratic author of the bill had to water down the bill in order to get enough Republican votes (in addition to the Democratic votes) that it would pass. This is frequently how politics works.
The law is a start, and the next state to pass such a law might make it stiffer, if there is public awareness and support for its expanded provisions. Also, a future New York House might draft a stiffer bill and push it through if they have enough Democratic supporters that bending to the will of the lobbyists isn
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Re:Note which party is responsible (Score:4, Insightful)
Not a victory at all (Score:5, Interesting)
The right-to-repair bill that I've spent seven years of my life trying to get passed in my home state got fucked, and it's funny, it got fucked in the exact manner that I thought it would... Because it getting passed without being tainted or screwed with would actually be good for society, and that's not something that New York state government is going to allow to happen."
One of the most prominent people in the right to repair movement, he says it's "functionally useless". See the video where he talks about it [youtube.com] or better articles [dexerto.com]
Priorities (Score:2)
Woke culture warriors is what gets us here and keeps us here. Basically voters willing to cede ground on economics in exchange for a handful of victories in social issues. They're older, reliable voters and they're not subject to the rampant voter suppression (and gerrymandering favors them) so their voices have an outsized impact.
If you know one, talk t
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about 1/3 of American voters are more concerned with a handful of trans kids (most of which are trans boys) playing sports than they are about this.
This is the part where I remind you that New York is a blue state. The right-to-repair law got watered down not because of culture war distractions, but because the average person just buys the "new hotness" when their current tech becomes "old and busted".
As for the people who do still try to get their phones repaired, I don't know how it is in the rest of the country, but around here the 3rd party phone repair shops use poor quality parts and they're not really that much cheaper than bringing your phone
Say What?! (Score:5, Insightful)
Citation fucking needed! I haven't seen a single person that fought for that bill state that they felt like it was even a small victory. The consensus seems to be that it codified the status quo rather than do anything to improve it.
The original version of the bill passed NY state senate with a vote of 59 to 4. It later passed the state assembly by a vote of 145 to 1. How often do you see a bill today with such huge bipartisan support? The bill was fine the way it was when it passed the senate and assembly but then Hochul had to have a bunch of closed-door meetings with lobbyists and pervert the bill into something almost completely unrecognizable from its original form.
I'd argue this was the biggest win so far from the anti-Right-to-Repair lobbyists. If this bill was signed into law in its original form, companies would have been forced to provide most of the parts and documentation that they already use internally to third-party repair shops in NY. Once that door had been opened, many other states would have likely followed because they could argue that it would take almost no extra effort to do that in their state than it would to do for NY. Preventing that from happening in NY basically closed that door and now the only hope is for some other, potentially less corrupt state, to make it happen. However, so far most states refuse to even propose the legislation, let alone get bipartisan support through both houses. This is just another example of our government putting the desires of their lobbyist masters over the will of its citizens. History shows you can only keep doing that for so long before bad things start happening to the royalty.
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Re:Say What?! (Score:4, Insightful)
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An agreement (Score:2)
An agreement? Why? Should anti-monopoly policy be an agreement between monopolies and the state? Should anti-fraud legislation be an agreement between shysters and the government? Should political parties get to pick the restrictions on vote manipulation? (don't answer that) We don't need an agreement. We need legislation that takes into account what is possible and reasonable economically without any input from the compa
First time I've seen Slashdot admit it: (Score:1)
The real reason behind these "right to repair" laws, that is:
> who founded iPad Rehab, an independent repair
> shop in Honeoye Falls, about 20 miles south of
> Rochester, New York, says the original bill included
> provisions that would have made it far easier for
> independent shops like hers to get the tools, parts,
> and know-how needed to make repairs
It doesn't matter if I had access to the specialized parts, tools, and manuals or not. It's been years... decades, actually... since I've had
Re:First time I've seen Slashdot admit it: (Score:4, Insightful)
Be honest: If an IC in your iPhone fails... and even if Apple were forced to give you the replacement part and instructions themselves... do you REALLY have the workshop, skills, time, and inclination to crack the thing open, take it apart, de-soldier the failed chip, soldier the replacement in, reassemble everything, and be confident that your repair job worked?
Yes, but when was the last time you saw an IC fail naturally?
A more likely scenario is a screen replacement or a battery replacement, and iFixit sells repair kits to consumers. Most common repairs are not very hard.
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I want to be able to take my device to a local shop instead of mailing it to the manufacturer (or their delegate) and waiting, and waiting, and waiting some more, and oh yeah paying whatever they demand because they're my only possible source of parts.
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> I want to
And you have every right to do so. You always have, regardless of whether any of these "right to repair" laws have passed or not, "watered down" or not. And so far as I'm aware, there have been no laws proposed to take your right away. Your rights have never been absent, or at all in question.
But these "right to repair" laws aren't about *you* or *your* right to do anything. You've already handed over your money. You have the right to do whatever you like with your kit. These laws have n
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You are deeply confused.
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Nope. I just know what civil rights are and that they're for people, not corporations. And I don't think the latter should be subsidized... by anyone, not even another corporation.
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Perhaps I was wrong. You're not merely confused, you're also seriously delusional.
If you can stop simping for billion-dollar multinationals for a few seconds, you'd see that right-to-repair legislation is absolutely about individuals. That it also empowers small business is just a huge side-benefit.
No one is being "subsidized", you drooling moron.
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>complexity and needed skills
Wow. Scary words. Let's assume you're correct, too, and have the end user think twice before making that choice. Are you going to let them?
>People have rights.
Are you going to let them?
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I don't know if you're trying to set up a strawman, showing off the fact that you know how to use italics and bold HTML tags, or just babbling incoherently. But nothing in the very much misnamed "right to repair" blather is about the end user, any other person, their rights, or if I or anyone else will "let" those end users do anything.
This is about businesses being forced to subsidize other businesses and whether or not that is proper. I say it's not.
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You're either delusional or a shill. I'm betting on shill.
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Be honest: If an IC in your iPhone fails... and even if Apple were forced to give you the replacement part and instructions themselves... do you REALLY have the workshop, skills, time, and inclination to crack the thing open, take it apart, de-soldier the failed chip, soldier the replacement in, reassemble everything, and be confident that your repair job worked?
Honest? Okay. Let's take an honest look at the workshop, skills, and time required.
In your workshop (or kitchen table) you'll need ... a couple screwdrivers, a spudger, some good tweezers, and a hot air rework station. Not much of an obstacle there as those tools are not expensive. You can get an 858D clone for <$50. You probably won't need a microscope for this, but I've seen ones perfectly suitable for hobbyist work <$100.
Skills ... you won't need much for this job as you're just removing and r
What (Score:2)
It also exempts electronics used exclusively by businesses or the government.
What the hell
All edits must be attributed. (Score:2)
Like Nascar. This change brought to you by Chevron.