BILL NUMBER: S4655
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:
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 assemblies" 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 paragraphs 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 amend-
ment to the repair provider notification to the equipment owner require-
ment. § 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
containing valuable owner-protection language missing from New York's
current statute. President Joe Biden, in an Executive Order issued in
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 from
the New York law. The New York law goes into effect December 23, 2023,
so the passage of this legislation is timely for our state's owners to
enjoy the same benefits of having more options to repair their electron-
ic devices and appliances that are/will be available to consumers, busi-
nesses, and government entities and other product owners in other
states.
 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2023/24: S8492
2022 - S.4104-A/A.7006-B - Chapter 810 2023 - S.1320/A.1285 - Chapter 48
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
To be determined.
 
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.