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General Assembly Raised Bill No. 121
February Session, 2022
LCO No. 1275
Referred to Committee on GENERAL LAW
Introduced by:
(GL)
AN ACT CONCERNING THE FAIR RIGHT TO REPAIR ACT.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2022) (a) This section shall be 1
known, and may be cited, as the "Fair Right to Repair Act". 2
(b) For the purposes of this section: 3
(1) "Authorized repair provider" means (A) with respect to any 4
original equipment manufacturer, any person who is unaffiliated with 5
such original equipment manufacturer and enters into an arrangement 6
with such original equipment manufacturer under which (i) such 7
original equipment manufacturer grants to such person a license to use 8
a service mark, trade name or other proprietary identifier for the 9
purpose of offering to diagnose, maintain or repair digital electronic 10
equipment under such original equipment manufacturer's name, or (ii) 11
such person offers to diagnose, maintain or repair digital electronic 12
equipment on behalf of such original equipment manufacturer, and (B) 13
with respect to any digital electronic equipment, any original equipment 14
manufacturer that (i) manufactures, has manufactured on such original 15 Raised Bill No. 121
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equipment manufacturer's behalf, sells or supplies such digital 16
electronic equipment and offers to diagnose, maintain or repair such 17
digital electronic equipment, and (ii) does not enter into an arrangement 18
with any unaffiliated person as described in subparagraph (A) of this 19
subdivision for the purpose of diagnosing, maintaining or repairing 20
such digital electronic equipment. 21
(2) "Digital electronic equipment" means any product that, in whole 22
or in part, requires digital electronics that are embedded in, or attached 23
to, such product in order for such product to fully function. 24
(3) "Documentation" means any diagram, manual, password, 25
reporting output, schematic, security code, service code description or 26
other information that is used to diagnose, maintain or repair digital 27
electronic equipment and any update to such diagram, manual, 28
password, reporting output, schematic, security code, service code 29
description or other information. 30
(4) "Fair and reasonable terms" means (A) terms that (i) enable a 31
person to obtain from an original equipment manufacturer any 32
documentation, part or tool at a price, and subject to conditions, that are 33
equivalent to the most favorable price at, and conditions under, which 34
the original equipment manufacturer offers such documentation, part 35
or tool to an authorized repair provider (I) including any discount, 36
convenient and timely means of delivery, means of enabling fully 37
restored and updated functionality, rebate, right of use and other 38
incentive or preference such original equipment manufacturer may 39
offer to an authorized repair provider, and (II) excluding any additional 40
burden, cost or impediment such original equipment manufacturer may 41
otherwise impose on an independent repair provider or owner, and (ii) 42
are not conditioned on the existence of an arrangement described in 43
subparagraph (A) of subdivision (1) of this subsection, and (B) with 44
respect to any documentation, including, but not limited to, any updates 45
to such documentation, terms that (i) satisfy the criteria set forth in 46
subparagraph (A) of this subdivision, and (ii) do not impose any cost for 47
such documentation except for the actual and reasonable cost of 48 Raised Bill No. 121
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preparing and providing such documentation if such documentation is 49
provided in printed form. 50
(5) "Independent repair provider" means (A) any original equipment 51
manufacturer operating in this state that diagnoses, maintains or repairs 52
any digital electronic equipment that such original equipment 53
manufacturer did not manufacture, have manufactured on such original 54
equipment manufacturer's behalf, sell or supply, and (B) any person (i) 55
operating in this state who is not an original equipment manufacturer, 56
(ii) who diagnoses, maintains or repairs any digital electronic 57
equipment, and (iii) who has not entered into an arrangement with an 58
original equipment manufacturer as described in subparagraph (A) of 59
subdivision (1) of this subsection, and is unaffiliated with any person 60
who has entered into such an arrangement, with respect to the digital 61
electronic equipment being diagnosed, maintained or repaired. 62
(6) "Motor home" has the same meaning as provided in section 14-1 63
of the general statutes. 64
(7) (A) "Motor vehicle" means any vehicle that (i) is designed to 65
transport individuals or property on highways or streets, and (ii) the 66
motor vehicle manufacturer has certified satisfies all applicable state 67
and federal emissions standards, safety standards and other 68
requirements for distribution or sale in the United States. 69
(B) "Motor vehicle" does not include any motor home, motorcycle or 70
recreational vehicle. 71
(8) "Motor vehicle equipment manufacturer" means any legal entity 72
that is engaged in the business of manufacturing or supplying 73
components that are used to maintain, manufacture or repair any motor 74
vehicle. 75
(9) "Motor vehicle manufacturer" means any legal entity that is 76
engaged in the business of assembling or manufacturing new motor 77
vehicles. 78 Raised Bill No. 121
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(10) "Motorcycle" has the same meaning as provided in section 14-1 79
of the general statutes. 80
(11) "New motor vehicle dealer" means any new motor vehicle dealer 81
that (A) is licensed under section 14-52 of the general statutes, and (B) 82
leases or sells motor vehicles, and diagnoses, maintains or repairs motor 83
vehicles, pursuant to a franchise agreement. 84
(12) "Original equipment manufacturer" means any legal entity that 85
(A) manufactures, or has manufactured on such entity's behalf, any new 86
digital electronic equipment or parts of such digital electronic 87
equipment, and (B) is engaged in the business of leasing, selling or 88
otherwise supplying such digital electronic equipment to other persons. 89
(13) "Owner" means any person who owns or leases any digital 90
electronic equipment that was purchased, or is used, in this state. 91
(14) "Part" means any new or used component of any digital 92
electronic equipment that the original equipment manufacturer of such 93
digital electronic equipment makes available, or that is made available 94
to such original equipment manufacturer, to maintain or repair such 95
digital electronic equipment. 96
(15) "Person" means any individual, association, business, 97
corporation, firm, limited liability company, organization, partnership, 98
trust or other legal entity. 99
(16) "Recreational vehicle" has the same meaning as provided in 100
section 14-1 of the general statutes. 101
(17) "Tool" means any hardware implement, software program or 102
other apparatus used to diagnose, maintain or repair any digital 103
electronic equipment, including, but not limited to, any software or 104
other mechanism that calibrates functionality, pairs, programs or 105
provisions any part or performs any other function necessary to return 106
such digital electronic equipment to its fully functional condition. 107
(18) "Trade secret" has the same meaning as provided in 18 USC 1839. 108 Raised Bill No. 121
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(c) (1) (A) Except as provided in subparagraph (B) of this subdivision, 109
each original equipment manufacturer shall make available to 110
independent repair providers and owners, on fair and reasonable terms, 111
documentation, parts and tools for the purpose of enabling independent 112
repair providers and owners to diagnose, maintain and repair the digital 113
electronic equipment and parts that such original equipment 114
manufacturer manufactures, has manufactured on such original 115
equipment manufacturer's behalf, sells or otherwise supplies. 116
(B) Nothing in subparagraph (A) of this subdivision shall be 117
construed to require any original equipment manufacturer to make 118
available any part that is no longer available to such original equipment 119
manufacturer. 120
(2) If any digital electronic equipment contains any electronic security 121
lock or other security related function, the original equipment 122
manufacturer of such digital electronic equipment shall, on fair and 123
reasonable terms, make available to the owner of, and any independent 124
repair provider engaged to diagnose, maintain or repair, such digital 125
electronic equipment, any special documentation, tool or part that is 126
necessary to disable and reset such lock or function. 127
(d) Nothing in this section shall be construed to: 128
(1) Require any original equipment manufacturer to disclose any 129
trade secret to any owner or independent repair provider unless such 130
disclosure is necessary to provide any documentation, part or tool on 131
fair and reasonable terms as required under subsection (c) of this 132
section; 133
(2) Alter the terms of any arrangement described in subparagraph (A) 134
of subdivision (1) of subsection (b) of this section, including, but not 135
limited to, any arrangement between an authorized repair provider and 136
an original equipment manufacturer that calls for the authorized repair 137
provider to perform any repair on behalf of the original equipment 138
manufacturer pursuant to a warranty or following a recall, that is in 139
effect on October 1, 2022, except that any provision in such an 140 Raised Bill No. 121
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arrangement that purports to avoid, limit, restrict or waive the original 141
equipment manufacturer's obligation to comply with the provisions of 142
this section shall be void and unenforceable; or 143
(3) Apply to any person acting in such person's capacity as a motor 144
vehicle equipment manufacturer, motor vehicle manufacturer or new 145
motor vehicle dealer. 146
(e) Any violation of this section by an original equipment 147
manufacturer shall be deemed an unfair or deceptive trade practice 148
under subsection (a) of section 42-110b of the general statutes. 149
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 October 1, 2022 New section
Statement of Purpose:
To require original equipment manufacturers of digital electronic
equipment to provide the owners of such equipment and independent
repair providers with an opportunity to diagnose, maintain or repair
such equipment on terms that are similar to the terms that original
equipment manufacturers provide to authorized repair providers.
[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline, except
that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not
underlined.]