A proposal in the Colorado House could mean a major expansion to the state’s “right to repair” laws, notably in the area of electronic equipment, such as mobile phones and other devices. 

House Bill 1121 would expand the state’s right to repair laws to include digital electronic equipment, such as cellphones, computers, and kitchen appliances. The proposed legislation includes exemptions for a number of products, including motor vehicles, security alarms, and certain medical devices.  

The proposal comes on the heels of Colorado’s first law on the issue in 2022, under which manufacturers of powered wheelchairs are required to provide independent repair shops and owners of their products with “parts, embedded software, firmware, tools, or documentation, such as diagnostic, maintenance, or repair manuals, diagrams, or similar information.” 

Similar legislation went into effect at the beginning of this year for agricultural equipment.

Such laws have gained popularity over the last few years, which supporters attribute to supply chain challenges arising from the COVID-19 pandemic and which they say prompted manufacturers to recognize the value of providing consumers access to parts so they can repair and maintain what they bought themselves.

Supporters argue such laws save money and reduce the environmental impact of electronic waste, while opponents counter that giving residents access to complex and potentially hazardous elements of devices poses a threat to security and physical safety. 

Supporters: ‘Parts pairing’ is ‘anti-repair’

Supporters said a common example of “anti-repair” technology is “parts pairing,” in which manufacturers, such as Apple, effectively prevent replacement of parts by locking them out with software.  

That practice, supporters of the bill said, discourage or prevent parts from being swapped.

The New York Times, for example, explored how new iPhones are coded in order to recognize the serial numbers for the original components and how they “may malfunction if the parts are changed.” 

Rep. Brianna Titone, D- Arvada, who has championed “right to repair” legislation, asserted that claims from companies that they cannot manufacture products without “parts pairing” is untrue.

Titone pointed out the contrast between Apple, which the lawmaker said requires users to buy a completely new product for a major part failure, and Google, which makes all phone parts readily accessible online for users to buy and replace on their own.

Titone’s co-sponsor on the bill, Rep. Steven Woodrow, D- Denver, said many other states have either passed “right to repair” legislation for electronic equipment or are considering bills on the matter this session.

“This is a very important bill on two levels. One, it has pro-consumer benefit. Secondly, this is an environmental bill,” he said. “E-waste is a serious problem that adds to our growing pollution issue. Being able to repair products extends their useful life.

Critics: A threat to security, physical safety 

Opponents of the legislation argue that giving everyday citizens access to complex and potentially hazardous elements of devices poses a threat to security and physical safety. 

Dustin Brighton of the Repair Done Right Coalition brought up the example of lithium ion batteries, which are commonly found in cellphones and can be dangerous if mishandled. 

“Manufacturers want to ensure that their products are serviced by professionals who understand the intricacies of their products and have spent time procuring the knowledge necessary to safely repair them and return them to consumers without compromising those standards or undermining the safety and security of those manufactured products,” he said.

Ruthie Barko of TechNet said that, while her organization isn’t opposed to the bill, it is concerned with the privacy implications regarding personal data stored on devices, such as banking or health information.

She said there have been instances in which independent repair shop had unauthorized access to clients’ personal information, while repairing their devices. TechNet suggested amending the bill to include more transparent disclosures for consumers and greater protection for personal information and trade secrets.

Rep. Lisa Frizell, R- Castle Rock, raised a question about whether this legislation would discourage manufacturers from selling their products in Colorado due to the need for a special “carve out” to adhere to the “right to repair” legislation.

A consumer right

“In the last 10 years, more and more of the stuff we have comes with software that makes it so manufacturers have the ability to restrict our ability to take it to somebody who we trust (to have it repaired),” Katz said.  

He acknowledged that “right to repair” restrictions make a lot of sense from a business perspective, but that it causes prices of products to increase in an already inflated market. 

Katz cited a recent Wall Street Journal article that found the average American pays 43% more for home appliances than they did a decade ago, despite the actual retail prices going down 12%. 

Steven Nickel, director of consumer hardware operations at Google, said the company fully supports the right to repair and designs products that enable “simple, safe, and reliable repairs.”

He said Google partners with independent repair providers and makes replacement parts for its devices easily accessible and without “parts pairing” requirements. 

“There are many challenges that we address in our pursuit of device longevity and reparability as a company, but I really want to emphasize, these problems are solvable, and our customers have celebrated these investments,” he said, adding that several other states and the European Union have considered similar legislation for electronic devices. 

Liz Chamberlain of iFixit, an organization that publishes free repair manuals online, noted the upward trend in states like New York, California and Minnesota passing right to repair legislation and expressed the hope that it would one day be federal law.

“The steady drumbeat of increasing right to repair legislation means that manufacturers can’t just tie these things up in court, so Colorado passing this bill would be a huge boon to bills that have passed elsewhere and bills that may pass in the future,” she said. 

Several amendments were made to exempt “outside the meter” devices, such as solar panels, as well as power tools, marine and aviation vessels, and police, medical and fire energy storage equipment. 

Titone said the legislation will force manufacturers to increase their right to repair policies and hopes Colorado and other states with similar legislation would set an example for the federal government to follow suit in the future. 

“We need an affordable and competitive repair for consumers,” she said. “It’s about the freedom to get your repairs done on your terms, whether it’s DIY, third party, or through the manufacturer.”

“I am a believer in free markets,” added Woodrow. “Free markets require competition. This bill promotes competition by curbing grossly anti-competitive conduct.”

The bill passed through committee on an 8-3 party line vote; it will proceed to the House Committee of the Whole for second reading.