Industry Raises Concerns on Wash. Right-to-Repair Bill

Wireless and consumer tech industries opposed a digital right-to-repair bill Wednesday at a Washington state House Consumer Protection and Business Committee virtual hearing. HB-1801 would require manufacturers to label products with a repairability score. Sponsor Rep. Mia Gregerson (D) said an upcoming amendment would change the bill so it would set up a task force to study right to repair. The committee later voted 5-2 on HB-1810, which would require manufacturers to make documentation, parts and tools available to owners and independent repair providers on fair and reasonable terms. The panel voted 4-3 for HB-1697, which would ban websites from marketing or advertising certain products or services to minors, restrict certain online ad practices based on minors’ personal information and give minors the right to request removal of certain information posted online. HB-1697 would be enforced solely by the attorney general. Ranking Republican Rep. Brandon Vick, voting no, complained the privacy bill is too vague. Testifying on HB-1801, CTA lobbyist Charlie Brown said it would be tough to have a state right-to-repair standard that doesn't align with standards in other countries. CTA supports setting up a work group, he said. It would be better to handle this issue at the national or international level than to pass a state law that would be “extremely operationally burdensome,” said TechNet Vice President-State Policy David Edmonson: The proposed score would paint an incomplete picture of devices’ overall quality and confuse consumers. CTIA thinks the "requirements in this bill are unworkable,” said Director-State Legislative Affairs Lisa McCabe. Other attributes besides repairability, such as water resistance, factor into a device’s longevity, she noted. iFixit CEO Kyle Wiens backed HB-1801. Apple AirPods and Samsung Galaxy Buds are similar in quality, but Samsung’s product lasts longer because it has replaceable batteries, he noted: Consumers currently have no easy way of knowing that. Another right-to-repair advocate, Owen Rubel of SecuRepairs, doesn’t think it’s wise to trust manufacturers with determining their own repairability score, he said: A standards body should do that.