SB 244: Right to Repair

Senate Bill 244 by Sen. Susan Talamantes Eggman (D-Stockton) would enact the Right to Repair Act. SB 244 would amend and renumber the heading of Chapter 8.6 (commencing with Section 42490) of, and add Chapter 8.6 (commencing with Section 42488) to, Part 3 of Division 30 of the Public Resources Code.

Chapter 8.6 would be titled “Right to Repair Act.” There would be a statement of legislative to provide a fair marketplace for the repair of electronic equipment and to prohibit intentional barriers and limitations to third-party repair.

The bill would require every manufacturer of an electronic or appliance product, between the wholesale price of $50 to $99.99, to make available to owners of the product, service and repair facilities, and service dealers, sufficient documentation and functional parts and tools, inclusive of any updates, on fair and reasonable terms, to effect the diagnosis, maintenance, or repair of a product for at least three years after the last date a product model or type was manufactured, regardless of whether the three-year period exceeds the warranty period for the product.

For products in that same price range ($50 – $99.99) that contain an electronic security lock or other security-related function, the manufacturer would be required to make available to owners of the product, service and repair facilities, and service dealers, on fair and reasonable terms, any documentation, tools, software, and parts needed to disable the lock or function, and to reset the lock or function when disabled, during the course of the diagnosis, maintenance, or repair of a product for at least three years after the last date a product model or type was manufactured, regardless of whether the three-year period exceeds the warranty period for the product.

In addition, every manufacturer of an electronic or appliance product with a wholesale price $100 or more would be required to make available to owners of the product, service and repair facilities, and service dealers sufficient documentation and functional parts and tools, inclusive of any updates, on fair and reasonable terms, to effect the diagnosis, maintenance, or repair of a product for at least seven years after the last date a product model or type was manufactured, regardless of whether the seven-year period exceeds the warranty period for the product.

For products in that same price range (over $100) that contain an electronic security lock or other security-related function, the manufacturer would be required to make available to owners of the product, service and repair facilities, and service dealers, on fair and reasonable terms, any documentation, tools, software, and parts needed to disable the lock or function, and to reset the lock or function when disabled, during the course of the diagnosis, maintenance, or repair of a product for at least seven years after the last date a product model or type was manufactured, regardless of whether the seven-year period exceeds the warranty period for the product.

Nonetheless, this new law would not require a manufacturer to divulge a trade secret, nor would this new law require the distribution of a product’s source code.

In addition, a service and repair facility or service dealer that is not an authorized facility or dealer of a manufacturer would be required to provide a written notice to any customer seeking repair of an electronic or appliance product before the repair facility or service dealer repairs the product that informs the customer that it is not a manufacturer-authorized or -affiliated service dealer for the product.

The bill would define the following terms: “documentation,” “electronic or appliance product,” “product,” “fair and reasonable terms,” “service dealer,” and “trade secret.”

Finally, a city, a county, a city and county, or the state may bring an action in superior court to impose civil liability on a person or entity that knowingly violated this new law, or reasonably should have known that it violated this new law. The amounts of civil liability would be $1,000 per day for the first violation, $2,000 per day for the second violation, and $5,000 per day for the third and subsequent violations.