Modifies what qualifies as an original equipment manufacturer and the manufacture date when hardware must comply with the right to repair law; repeals certain limitations on the right to repair law.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A8955
SPONSOR: Fahy TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the general business law, in relation to the sale of
digital electronic equipment and providing diagnostic and repair infor-
mation; and to amend chapter 810 of the laws of 2022 amending the gener-
al business law relating to the sale of digital electronic equipment and
providing diagnostic and repair information, in relation to the effec-
tiveness thereof
PURPOSE OF GENERAL IDEA OF THE BILL:
To amend the General Business Law, Sale of Digital Electronic Equipment;
Diagnostic and Repair Information, to expand the covered products to
include home appliances, and to make other changes to enhance repair
options for owners of electronic equipment consistent with similar laws
in other states.
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:
§ 1. Amends § 399-nn (a) by adding to the definition of authorized
repair provider, an Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM) that offers
the repair of its own equipment.
Amends § 399-nn (b) to cover digital electronic equipment sold or used
in the state on or after July 1, 2021, and includes products sold to
schools, businesses, local governments, and other methods outside of
retail.
Amends § 399-nn (m) to remove the exclusion of "printed board assem-
blies" from the definition of "parts".
Amends § 399-nn (3)(a) to add "copyrights or patients" to "trade
secrets", as what is not required of OEMs to divulge, except as neces-
sary to comply with repair.
Amends § 399-nn (3) by removing (h) and (i) and renumbering these para-
graphs to add home appliances and to prevent OEMs from limiting sales of
parts to preassembled components rather than individual components.
Amends § 399-nn (6) by making a technical amendment to the repair
provider notification to the equipment owner requirement.
§ 2. Effective date: December 28, 2023.
JUSTIFICATION:
New York was the first state to enact a comprehensive equipment owner
right to repair law (Chapter 810, L.2022 and Chapter 48, L.2023). New
York State's right to repair law is paving the way for other states and
the federal government to adopt similar laws. Since 2022, states such as
Minnesota and California have enacted the right to repair legislation
that contains valuable owner protection language that is missing from
New York's current statute. President Joe Biden, in an Executive Order
issued July 2021, declared his support for making it easier and cheaper
to repair items by preventing manufacturers from barring self-repairs or
third-party repairs of their products. New York should align with the
spirit of the Biden Administration's directive and other states' actions
by enhancing owner protections and extending those protections to owners
of home appliances, as this bill proposes to do for residents in this
state. The bill also seeks to extend coverage to digital product sales
to schools, businesses, and local governments, which were excluded in
the New York law.
The New York law goes into effect December 23, 2023, so passage of this
legislation is timely for our state's owners to enjoy the same benefits
of having more options to repair their electronic devices and appliances
that are/will be available to consumers, businesses, and government
entities and other product owners in other states.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2022 - S.4104-A/A.7006-B - Chapter 810
2023 - S.1320/A.1285 - Chapter 48
FISCAL IMPLICATION FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS: CONSIDERABLE
SAVINGS TO NEW YORK STATE AND LOCAL TAXPAYERS.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately; provided, however, that section
one of this act shall take effect on the same day and in the same manner
as chapter 810 of the laws of 2022.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
8955
IN ASSEMBLY
January 30, 2024
___________
Introduced by M. of A. FAHY -- read once and referred to the Committee
on Consumer Affairs and Protection
AN ACT to amend the general business law, in relation to the sale of
digital electronic equipment and providing diagnostic and repair
information; and to amend chapter 810 of the laws of 2022 amending the
general business law relating to the sale of digital electronic equip-
ment and providing diagnostic and repair information, in relation to
the effectiveness thereof
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Paragraphs (a), (b), and (m) of subdivision 1, paragraphs
2 (a), (g), (h), (i) and (j) of subdivision 3, paragraphs (d) and (e) of
3 subdivision 4, and the opening paragraph of subdivision 6 of section
4 399-nn of the general business law, paragraphs (a), (b) and (m) of
5 subdivision 1, paragraphs (a) and (g) of subdivision 3, and the opening
6 paragraph of subdivision 6, as amended and paragraphs (h), (i) and (j)
7 of subdivision 3, and paragraphs (d) and (e) of subdivision 4, as added
8 by chapter 48 of the laws of 2023, are amended to read as follows:
9 (a) "Authorized repair provider" means an individual or business who
10 has an arrangement with the original equipment manufacturer under which
11 the original equipment manufacturer grants to the individual or business
12 a license to use a trade name, service mark, or other proprietary iden-
13 tifier for the purposes of offering the services of diagnosis, mainte-
14 nance, or repair of digital electronic equipment under the name of the
15 original equipment manufacturer, or other arrangement with the original
16 equipment manufacturer to offer such services on behalf of the original
17 equipment manufacturer. An original equipment manufacturer who offers
18 the services of diagnosis, maintenance, or repair of its own digital
19 electronic equipment shall be considered an authorized repair provider
20 with respect to such equipment.
21 (b) "Digital electronic equipment" or "equipment" means any hardware
22 product manufactured for the first time, and first sold or used in New
23 York on or after July first, two thousand [twenty-three, that depends
24 for its functioning, in whole or in part, on digital electronics embed-
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD13653-02-4
A. 8955 2
1 ded in or attached to the product] twenty-one, for which the original
2 equipment manufacturer makes available tools, parts, and documentation
3 either through authorized repair providers, its own employees, or any
4 authorized third-party providers ["Digital electronic equipment" or
5 "equipment" does not include any product sold under a specific busi-
6 ness-to-government or business-to-business contract, which is not other-
7 wise offered for sale directly by a retail seller].
8 (m) "Part" or "parts" means any replacement part or assembly of parts,
9 either new or used, made available by an original equipment manufacturer
10 for purposes of effecting the services of maintenance or repair of
11 digital electronic equipment manufactured or sold by the original equip-
12 ment manufacturer. [Part does not include printed board assemblies that
13 may allow device cloning in violation of 18 U.S.C. Section 1029 or other
14 applicable law.]
15 (a) [Nothing] Except as necessary to comply with this section, nothing
16 in this section shall be construed to require an original equipment
17 manufacturer to divulge [any] a trade secret or license any intellectual
18 property, including copyrights or patents, to any owner or independent
19 service provider.
20 (g) Nothing in this section shall be construed to require any original
21 equipment manufacturer or authorized repair provider to make available
22 any parts, tools, or documentation required for the diagnosis, mainte-
23 nance, or repair of any [home appliance that has a digital electronic
24 product embedded within it, including, but not limited to, refrigera-
25 tors, ovens, microwaves, air conditioning, heating units, and] security
26 devices or alarm systems including any related software and components.
27 (h) Nothing in this section shall prevent an original equipment
28 manufacturer from establishing reasonable training and certification
29 programs for independent repair providers, however, no independent
30 repair provider shall be required to complete any such training or
31 certification program as a condition to be covered by the rights granted
32 under this chapter.
33 (i) [Nothing in this section shall prevent an original equipment
34 manufacturer from offering parts, such as integrated batteries, to inde-
35 pendent repair providers or owners pre-assembled with other parts rather
36 than as individual components, where the individual components may pose
37 a heightened safety risk if installed improperly.
38 (j)] Nothing in this section shall require an original equipment
39 manufacturer to make available special documentation, tools, and parts
40 that would disable or override anti-theft security measures set by the
41 owner of the equipment without the owner's authorization.
42 (d) outside the meter commercial and industrial electrical equipment
43 [(]including power distribution equipment, [such as medium/low voltage
44 switchgear and transformers, power control equipment, such as medium/low
45 voltage motor control and drives, power quality equipment, such as unin-
46 terruptable power supplies, remote power panels, power distribution
47 units and static/transfer switches)] and any tools, technology, attach-
48 ments, accessories, components and repair parts for any of the forego-
49 ing.
50 (e) an electronic bicycle manufacturer, distributor, importer, retail-
51 er or dealer.
52 Before repairing digital electronic equipment, independent repair
53 providers shall provide to any customer, [and] or publish on their
54 website and the place of business, a written notice that contains the
55 following information:
A. 8955 3
1 § 2. Section 3 of chapter 810 of the laws of 2022 amending the general
2 business law relating to the sale of digital electronic equipment and
3 providing diagnostic and repair information, as amended by chapter 48 of
4 the laws of 2023, is amended to read as follows:
5 § 3. This act shall take effect one year after it shall have become a
6 law and shall apply to digital electronic equipment, manufactured for
7 the first time, and first sold or used in New York on or after July 1,
8 [2023] 2021.
9 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
