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Oregon Governor Tina Kotek has now signed one of the strongest US right-to-repair bills into law after it passed the state legislature several weeks ago<\/a> by an almost 3-to-1 margin. Oregon\u2019s SB 1596<\/a> will take effect next year, and, like similar laws introduced in Minnesota<\/a> and California<\/a>, it requires device manufacturers to allow consumers and independent electronics businesses to purchase the necessary parts and equipment required to make their own device repairs.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Oregon\u2019s rules, however, are the first to ban \u201cparts pairing<\/a>\u201d \u2014 a practice manufacturers use to prevent replacement components from working unless the company\u2019s software approves them. These protections also prevent manufacturers from using parts pairing to reduce device functionality or performance or display any misleading warning messages about unofficial components installed within a device. Current devices are excluded from the ban, which only applies to gadgets manufactured after January 1st, 2025.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cWe need to cut down the insane cycle of churning through personal electronics \u2014 and that starts by empowering repair,\u201d Nathan Proctor, the Public Interest Research Group\u2019s (PIRG) right to repair campaign senior director, says in a statement<\/a>. \u201cOregon\u2019s nation-leading Right to Repair law will keep devices working and off the scrap heap.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Much like Minnesota\u2019s and California\u2019s laws, Oregon\u2019s other right-to-repair rules only apply to phones sold after July 1st, 2021, or to other consumer electronics equipment sold after July 1st, 2015. Some products \u2014 like devices powered by combustion engines, medical equipment, farming equipment, HVAC equipment, video game consoles, and energy storage systems \u2014 are excluded from Oregon\u2019s rules entirely. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n