Oregon Governor Tina Kotek signed the Right to Repair Act yesterday, which will push manufacturers to offer more repair options for their products than any other state to date.
The law, like those passed in New York, California and Minnesota, will require many manufacturers to provide individuals and repair shops with the same parts, tools and documentation that they provide to their own repair crews.
But the Oregon bill goes further, preventing companies from implementing systems that require parts to be verified through encrypted software checks before they work, known as matching or serialization of parts. Oregon’s bill, SB 1596, is the first in the nation to target the practice. Oregon State Sen. Janeen Sollman and Rep. Courtney Neron, both Democrats, sponsored and pushed the bill through the state Senate and Legislature.
“By eliminating manufacturer restrictions, Right to Repair will make it easier for Oregonians to operate their personal electronic devices,” said Charlie Fisher, director of the Oregon chapter of the Public Interest Research Group, in a press release. “This will conserve valuable natural resources and avoid waste. It’s a refreshing alternative to a “throwaway” system that views everything as disposable.
Oregon law is not stricter in any respect. For one, there’s no set number of years for a manufacturer to support a device with repair support. Part pairing is prohibited only on devices sold in 2025 and later. And there are exceptions for certain types of electronics and appliances, including video game consoles, medical devices, HVAC systems, motor vehicles, and, as in other states, “toothbrushes electrical”.
Apple opposed Oregon’s repair bill for its ban on parts matching. John Perry, Apple’s senior manager of secure design, said at a February hearing in Oregon that the pairing restriction “would undermine the security, safety and privacy of people in the state.” Oregon by requiring device manufacturers to allow the use of parts of unknown origin in consumer products. devices. »
Apple surprised many observers with its support for California’s repair bill in 2023, although it did so after insisting that repairers disclose when they use “non-genuine or used” components and prohibit repairers from disabling safety features.
According to Consumer Reports, which lobbied and testified in favor of Oregon’s bill, reparations laws passed in four states now cover nearly 70 million people.
This story was originally published on Ars Technica.
