RUTHLESSLY: How Apple & Big Tech gutted New York’s right to repair bill.

In December 2022, New York became the first US state to pass a Right to Repair bill, but one which AppleInsider described as “functionally toothless.” Now draft documents and emails between lobbyists, government and repair advocacy groups show much the Digital Fair Repair Act was directly changed by Big Tech.

According to Grist, a nonprofit media organization, many of those changes are identical to those proposed by TechNet. This trade organization represents Apple, Google, Samsung, HP and more.

“We had every environmental group walking supporting this bill,” Patricia Fahy, bill sponsor, told Grist as she confirmed the authenticity of the documents. “What hurt this bill is Big Tech was opposed to it.”

Plus: “‘These particular TechNet edits all have a common theme,’ FTC chief counsel Dan Salsburg wrote in an email to Fahy’s office, ‘ensuring that manufacturers retain control over the market for the repair of their products.'”

Mission: Accomplished.