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

That's what iFixit CEO Kyle Wiens thinks about Oregon passing an electronics right-to-repair law.

“By applying to most products manufactured after 2015, this law will open up the opportunity to fix the things Oregonians need fixed now.” And by limiting repair practices related to matching parts, it protects the repair for years to come. We will not stop fighting until everyone, everywhere has these rights,” he said.

Oregon's Right to Repair bill will not only protect homeowners' rights to have their belongings repaired wherever they want, but also limit anti-repair practices related to parts matching, it reads . The iFixit piece. The team points out that the Beaver State's right-to-repair bill goes back further than any bill before: For everything except smartphones, manufacturers must update provision of parts, tools, documentation and software for products manufactured as early as 2015. (For smartphones, the bill applies retroactively to July 1, 2021, the same date as the Minnesota and Minnesota bills California that will take effect in July.) This bill applies to almost anything with a chip, with a set of exemptions that will sound familiar. anyone who has followed the right to repair movement. So yes, that covers laptops, tablets, smart watches, refrigerators, toasters and smart vacuum cleaners. This does not include medical devices, agricultural equipment or anything that runs on an internal combustion engine, and video game consoles are also excluded. “The exemptions list is a map of the most powerful anti-reparations lobbies, as well as the movement’s next frontier,” says iFixit.

This U.S. Right to Repair law marks a first by requiring independent repair shops to have valid certifications, such as WISE, CompTIA A+ or NAST, to access repair materials, although manufacturers may recognize other certifications. The move could greatly benefit independent shops, giving them a way to overcome obstacles and restrictions imposed by companies like Apple, which have made repairs increasingly difficult with software limitations such as matching parts. This system limits repairs by linking parts to a device's serial number, leading to functionality issues or misleading warnings if not recognized.

The law prohibits part pairings that block or limit the use of functional parts, reduce device performance, or trigger false alarms. This is a significant challenge for Apple, which opposed the bill citing safety, security and privacy concerns, but failed to explain why other manufacturers handle such repairs without those concerns.