Calif. passes strongest right-to-repair bill yet, requiring 7 years of parts
Madison_rogue@kbin.social to 
arstechnica.com
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.
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
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.
You don't have to guess or make stuff up. They already have a fully-compliant self-service parts store.
https://selfservicerepair.com/en-US/order
iPhone mainboards are not available for obvious reasons.
Fortunately, "fair and reasonable" is left to the courts, not the AG, so it should be harder for them to get away with pricing nonsense.
I'm more worried about software blocks (e.g. serialization of parts so many can't just be dropped in), but hopefully there's enough room in the law for a judge to set appropriate precedence.
They can see the wind turning. Instead of fighting the current, they'll just try and steer the ship where they want it now.
They used to make their computers with components that could be upgraded. That stopped a decade ago. Hopefully we'll get to see products like that again. It would be a refreshing change.
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.