CDT Sends Letter Urging NY Governor to Sign Right-to-Repair Bill Into Law
The Center for Democracy & Technology (CDT) sent a letter to New York Governor Kathy Hochul urging her to sign the Digital Fair Repair Act into law. The bill gives consumers the right to choose where to get their electronic devices repaired, and gives independent repair shops a fair opportunity to compete to provide this service to consumers.
It does so by requiring that manufacturers of consumer products that run on digital electronics make available the same parts, tools, and technical information needed for repairing those products to independent repair shops as they make available to their own authorized repair shops. And consumers would also have this same right of fair access for products they own, so they have the choice to do the repairs themselves if they can.
It thus keeps manufacturers from using technological barriers to block consumers from enjoying this fundamental right of ownership – the right to decide how to fix what they own – that has been part of our free-market economic system for many centuries. Enabling competition gives consumers the leverage of choice, the ability to look elsewhere for a better deal – which in turn tends to bring them lower prices, more convenience, and greater satisfaction.
