Minnesota Governor Tim Walz has signed a groundbreaking right-to-repair law, which will come into effect on July 1, 2024. The Verge reports: The rules, part of an omnibus appropriations bill, require electronics manufacturers to let independent repair shops and consumers buy the parts and tools necessary to repair their own equipment. But the rules don’t apply to some notable categories, including farm equipment, game consoles, medical devices, and motor vehicles.

The new Minnesota rules take effect July 1st, 2024, and they cover products sold on or after July 1st, 2021. If manufacturers sell a product in the state, they must offer residents the equipment to repair it on “fair and reasonable” terms within 60 days, and they must offer documentation for performing repairs and service free of charge. Failure to do so will violate Minnesota’s Deceptive Trade Practices statute, opening manufacturers up to penalties from the attorney general. “This is the biggest right to repair win to date,” said Nathan Proctor, who leads the right to repair initiative at public interest group PIRG, in a statement. PIRG notes that Minnesota is the first state to offer right-to-repair protections for home appliances and commercial and educational computing systems, which were carved out of New York’s law. In a blog post, repair site iFixit focused on the free documentation element. “With online documentation, people everywhere in the world — not just in Minnesota — will benefit from this,” said iFixit CEO Kyle Wiens.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot – Right-To-Repair Rules Are Now the Law In Minnesota