On December 28, 2022, New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed the Digital Fair Repair Act into law, which will go into effect on July 1, 2023. The act establishes the right of consumers and independent repair providers to obtain manuals, diagrams, diagnostics, and parts from original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) in order to repair their own devices. However, the law was amended at the last minute, allowing OEMs to sell assemblies of parts rather than individual components and exempting certain industries, including home appliances, motor vehicles, medical devices, and off-road equipment, as well as enterprise devices used by schools, hospitals, and data centers. The law also only covers devices “manufactured for the first time as well as sold or used in New York for the first time,” meaning it does not apply to devices made before its effective date. The act has been celebrated by supporters as a victory, but some repair technicians argue that the amendments make it “functionally useless.”
