Review - HR 8544 Introduced – Right-to-Repair

Back in May, Rep Morelle (D,NY) introduced HR 8544, the Fair Repair Act. The bill would establish a requirement for original equipment manufacturers to make available “documentation, parts, and tools, inclusive of any updates to information or embedded software” for the purpose of diagnosis, maintenance or repair of equipment sold or used in the United States. It would also make the Federal Trade Commission the agency responsible for enforcement of the requirement.

Morelle introduced a similar bill last session, HR 4006 (removed from paywall). No action was taken on that bill. There have been significant changes made from that earlier version.

Moving Forward

Neither Morelle or his three cosponsors are members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee to which this bill was assigned for consideration. Generally, this means that the Committee is unlikely to consider this bill. If the bill were to be considered in Committee, it would almost certainly draw significant opposition from Republicans supporting manufacturers, and from some Democrats for privacy issues. There may not be enough votes to move the bill forward because of that opposition.

Commentary

This bill addresses an issue of some importance, but I think that more works needs to be done on the concept.

There is one particular piece that deserves specific attention, the provision concerning security measures. If this were included in a bill written by some law-and-order Republican, I would suspect that §4(1) was specifically included to provide police with a way to get around encryption on computers and communication devices. Limitations need to be put into place to ensure that this is not a tool to get around self-incrimination protections.

 

For more details about the provisions of the bill, see my article at CFSN Detailed Analysis - https://patrickcoyle.substack.com/p/hr-8544-introduced - subscription required.

Bills Introduced – 5-23-24

Yesterday, with the House and Senate preparing to depart for their Memorial Day recess, there were 125 bills introduced. Five of those bills may receive additional coverage in this blog:

HR 8522 To improve connections between the Department of Agriculture and national and homeland security agencies, and for other purposes. Bice, Stephanie I. [Rep.-R-OK-5]

HR 8537 To require a study on public health impacts as a consequence of the February 3, 2023, train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio. Joyce, David P. [Rep.-R-OH-14]

HR 8544 To require original equipment manufacturers of digital electronic equipment to make available certain documentation, diagnostic, and repair information to independent repair providers, and for other purposes.

S 4420 A bill to improve connections between the Department of Agriculture and national and homeland security agencies, and for other purposes. Padilla, Alex [Sen.-D-CA]

S 4422 A bill to require original equipment manufacturers of digital electronic equipment to make available certain documentation, diagnostic, and repair information to independent repair providers, and for other purposes. Lujan, Ben Ray [Sen.-D-NM]

I will be watching HR 8522 and S 4420 for language and definitions that would specifically address chemical security and cybersecurity issues in the improved connections sought by the bills.

I will be covering HR 8537. I suspect that this bill will be similar to S 4045.

I will be covering HR 8544 and S 4422.