DOVER, Del. - A bill pending action in the House of Representatives may give Delawareans the right to repair electronic equipment they own, like cell phones.
“Currently, there are a lot of products that can only be repaired by the manufacturer or by technicians tied to the manufacturer,” said Representative Ruth Briggs King, the prime House sponsor of the Delaware Digital Right to Repair Act.
“This is especially true when the manufacturer withholds access to digital replacement components and the ability to interface with software or firmware needed to operate the device," she said. "When consumers and third-party repair shops can’t get what they need to service privately owned products, it puts too much power into the hands of manufacturers, allowing them to force obsolescence and eliminating repair as an alternative to replacement.”
The Delaware Digital Right to Repair Act would apply to electronics or products that have electronics as a large part of their functionality. It is similar to legislation introduced in the last General Assembly that was released from committee but expired awaiting consideration by the full House of Representatives. In an attempt to advance the bill further, the scope of the Digital Right to Repair Act is more focused on electronics instead of a variety of different products.
The measure would require manufacturers selling electronic equipment to make documentation, parts, and tools that include updates to embedded software available to the equipment owners or independent technicians on "fair and reasonable terms." Manufacturers have been fighting the right-to-repair movement through lobbying efforts and adopting design protocols that make their products difficult to mend. In some cases, replacing parts can disable features on devices and in others, companies sometimes keep inventories of replacement components low, which leads to critical parts being scarce and expensive.
"This is a growing challenge," Briggs King said. “I believe we can address manufacturers’ concerns of keeping proprietary information confidential and protecting consumer data, while giving product owners more flexibility, choices, and cost-effective options. Companies should not be allowed to monopolize repairs and make it a profit center of their operations.”
According to the U.S. Public Interest Research Group, there were 27 states in 2021 with Right to Repair bills in their legislative pipelines. Massachusetts voters approved a ballot initiative in November 2020 that requires car manufacturers selling vehicles with telematics systems to equip them so that owners and independent repair facilities could retrieve mechanical data and run diagnostics using a mobile app.
Less than two weeks ago, New York became the first state in the nation to enact a right-to-repair law when the Digital Fair Repair Act was signed by Governor Kathy Hochul. However, the legislation, which will not go into effect until July 1, has been criticized for having broad carveouts that will severely undermine its effectiveness. Still, Representative Briggs King sees the law as a milestone indicating the issue may be starting to gain traction and that progress is possible.
Any company that does business in Delaware, including national and international brands, is required to comply with state law and can be held accountable. Under the bill, the state attorney general could take action against any company found in violation of the act with injunctions, lawsuits, or fines of up to $10,000 per violation.
The bill has been assigned to the House Economic Development/Banking/Insurance & Commerce Committee and must be heard within 12 legislative days of being assigned to the committee.