The Beaver State passed the strongest-yet electronics Right to Repair bill

That’s how iFixit CEO Kyle Wiens feels about the fact that Oregon has passed an electronics Right to Repair law.

“By applying to most products made after 2015, this law will open up repair for the things Oregonians need to get fixed right now. And by limiting the repair-restricting practices of parts pairing, it protects fixing for years to come. We won’t stop fighting until everyone, everywhere, has these rights”, he says.

Oregon’s Right to Repair bill will not only protect owners’ right to get their stuff fixed anywhere they please, but will also limit the anti-repair practices of parts pairing, reads iFixit’s piece. The team highlights that the Right to Repair bill in the Beaver State goes further back than any bill ever has before – for everything except smartphones, manufacturers must make parts, tools, documentation, and software available for products produced as far back as 2015. (For smartphones, the bill applies retroactively to July 1, 2021, the same date as the Minnesota and California bills that go into effect this July.)

This bill applies to nearly everything with a chip, with a set of exemptions that will look familiar to anyone who’s been following the Right to Repair movement. So yes, it covers laptops and tablets and smartwatches and refrigerators and smart toasters and vacuum cleaners. It does not include medical devices, farm equipment, or anything that runs on an internal combustion engine, and video game consoles are also excluded. “The exemption list is a map of the strongest anti-repair lobbies, and also of the next frontier of the movement”, iFixit states.

This US Right to Repair law marks a first by mandating that independent repair shops have valid certifications, such as WISE, CompTIA A+, or NAST, to access repair materials, though manufacturers may recognize other certifications. This move could greatly benefit independent shops, offering them a way to navigate through the hurdles and restrictions imposed by companies like Apple, which have made repairs increasingly difficult with software limitations like parts pairing. This system restricts repairs by linking parts to a device's serial number, leading to functionality issues or misleading warnings if unrecognized.

The legislation bans parts pairing that blocks or limits the use of functional parts, reduces device performance, or triggers false alerts. This is a significant challenge for Apple, which opposed the bill citing safety, security, and privacy concerns, despite not explaining why other manufacturers manage such repairs without these issues.