California 18th State to Consider Right to Repair Legislation

In a funny twist the home of Slicon Valley has become the 18th state to consider a Right to Repair Act. The RTRA would require repair guides and parts be made available to the public and repair shops so consumers can get their electronics repaired at places other than the OEM. All of this is setting up to be one heck of a fight with the OEMs.

“The Right to Repair Act will provide consumers with the freedom to have their electronic products and appliances fixed by a repair shop or service provider of their choice, a practice that was taken for granted a generation ago but is now becoming increasingly rare in a world of planned obsolescence,” Susan Talamantes Eggman, a Democrat from Stockton who introduced the bill said in a statement.

wonder how many states need to do this before manufacturers simply fill their phone (lets be honest this is about phones) with thermal epoxy, so when it breaks there isn't a repair option.

Why are pics suddenly linking directly to the sites? Please pick one: either have them open a larger picture or make them all links. It would be nice to know one way or another if it's a site I don't particularly want to visit.

prime2515102 said:

Why are pics suddenly linking directly to the sites? Please pick one: either have them open a larger picture or make them all links. It would be nice to know one way or another if it's a site I don't particularly want to visit.

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EDIT: Damn that is one huge closeup!

how would this work with OEM warranty? I assume this is after it would have ended or will the OEM just say your warranty is void if you have it repaired somewhere else or by yourself.

They'll probably just pull a John Deere and allow you to get the parts, but only official service centers can load the firmware (individual modules usually have some FW) which will cost an arm/leg. Anyone loading the firmware otherwise will be met with DMCA lawsuits.

I'm really hoping they have a John Deere clause that says all software has to be included with the part.

Bigbacon said:

how would this work with OEM warranty? I assume this is after it would have ended or will the OEM just say your warranty is void if you have it repaired somewhere else or by yourself.

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Shouldn't affect the warranty outside of the part replaced. The Magnuson–Moss Warranty Act of '75 covered this - it's the same reason that those "warranty void" stickers aren't enforceable (the companies just use it as a scare tactic and dare you to sue them over it). For some reason, corporate America thinks they can just slap stickers/disclaimers on things and skirt established laws - heck, Disney was slapped by the courts for trying it with Redbox.

You're legally allowed to self repair. Without this, the automotive/appliance industry would have been forcing their high-priced service repairs on everyone or voiding entire warranties because you replaced an unrelated part.

Yeah, but big things like Tractors use these stupid "must be repaired by us" rules, and I bet they will fight this with all they have...

Cantroy said:

Yeah, but big things like Tractors use these stupid "must be repaired by us" rules, and I bet they will fight this with all they have...

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According to Magnuson-Moss, the only way automakers and such (and I believe tractors are covered by this, both farm and OTR) can do that is to cover ALL service and maintenance, including wear items and oil changes, COMPLETELY during the warranty period. Mercedes, BMW, Ferrari, and Porsche (iirc) do this. Once the equipment in question is out of warranty, anyone can service it, and the dealer/manufacturer can go blow a goat.

Big_Rig_Stig said:

According to Magnuson-Moss, the only way automakers and such (and I believe tractors are covered by this, both farm and OTR) can do that is to cover ALL service and maintenance, including wear items and oil changes, COMPLETELY during the warranty period. Mercedes, BMW, Ferrari, and Porsche (iirc) do this. Once the equipment in question is out of warranty, anyone can service it, and the dealer/manufacturer can go blow a goat.

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The real problem, is actually getting access to the Firmware. BMW motorcycles are good example of this, if you replace one of the shock absorbers, you have to tell the ECU that the part has been replaced or it throws error codes.

Companies lock down firmware and refuse to sell diagnostic and repair equipment to anyone but an authorized repair shop, and attempting to reverse engineer firmware for repair purposes is not explicitly covered by Magnuson-Moss, triggering DMCA action if a 3rd party attempts to hack the firmware.

motomonkey said:

The real problem, is actually getting access to the Firmware. BMW motorcycles are good example of this, if you replace one of the shock absorbers, you have to tell the ECU that the part has been replaced or it throws error codes.

Companies lock down firmware and refuse to sell diagnostic and repair equipment to anyone but an authorized repair shop, and attempting to reverse engineer firmware for repair purposes is not explicitly covered by Magnuson-Moss, triggering DMCA action if a 3rd party attempts to hack the firmware.

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Hackers unite!

Probably the only thing I agree with California on.