In the face of pressure form lobbyists, including Apple, California’s right to repair bill has been pulled by it co-sponsor for a second time. The move gives tech companies a one-year reprieve before the bill will be considered again.
The Verge reports California State Assembly member Susan Talamantes Eggman pulled the bill – Assembly Bill 1163 – from consideration on Tuesday. The California Privacy and Consumer Protection Committee was set to hear discussions on the matter the same day it was pulled.
“While this was not an easy decision, it became clear that the bill would not have the support it needed today, and manufacturers had sown enough doubt with vague and unbacked claims of privacy and security concerns,” Eggman said in a statement.
Eggman introduced the bill back in March, which would force Apple and other electronic device manufacturers to “make service literature and equipment or parts available to product owners and to regulated, independent repair shops.”
Over the last few weeks, an Apple lobbyist and a ComTIA, a trade organization representing major tech companies, met with California legislators in an effort to convince them to vote down the state’s right to repair legislation, which would ease the path for customers that wish to fix their own devices.
The two lobbyists met with members of the Privacy and Consumer Protection Committee. Apple told lawmakers that customers could potentially injure themselves if they accidentally puncture the batteries that power their devices while attempting to repair them.
Bill 1163 was Eggman’s second attempt at pushing the legislation through. She introduced her first version, Bill 2110, back in March 2018. The bill died in Assembly in November of that year.
