Bill Text: IL HB3601 | 2023-2024 | 103rd General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Creates the Educational Technology Right to Repair Act. Provides that, for educational technology equipment and parts for educational technology equipment sold or used in the State, an original equipment manufacturer shall make available to an independent repair provider, solely for the purpose of repairing educational technology equipment, on fair and reasonable terms, any documentation, parts, service access methods, and tools, including, but not limited to, any updates to information, firmware, or embedded software that is needed for purposes of repair of educational technology equipment and training courses and materials on the operation, inspection, diagnosis, maintenance, and repair of educational technology equipment. Provides that a violation of any of the provisions of the Act is an unlawful practice under the Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act. Provides for penalties. Provides that nothing in the Act shall require an original equipment manufacturer to divulge a trade secret to an independent repair provider. Amends the Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act making a conforming change. Effective January 1, 2024.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced) 2023-03-10 - Rule 19(a) / Re-referred to Rules Committee [HB3601 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2023-HB3601-Introduced.html

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103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2023 and 2024 HB3601 Introduced , by Rep. Michelle Mussman SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
New Act
815 ILCS 505/2BBBB new
Creates the Educational Technology Right to Repair Act. Provides that, for educational technology equipment and parts for educational technology equipment sold or used in the State, an original equipment manufacturer shall make available to an independent repair provider, solely for the purpose of repairing educational technology equipment, on fair and reasonable terms, any documentation, parts, service access methods, and tools, including, but not limited to, any updates to information, firmware, or embedded software that is needed for purposes of repair of educational technology equipment and training courses and materials on the operation, inspection, diagnosis, maintenance, and repair of educational technology equipment. Provides that a violation of any of the provisions of the Act is an unlawful practice under the Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act. Provides for penalties. Provides that nothing in the Act shall require an original equipment manufacturer to divulge a trade secret to an independent repair provider. Amends the Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act making a conforming change. Effective January 1, 2024.
LRB103 28339 SPS 54718 b
A BILL FOR
HB3601 LRB103 28339 SPS 54718 b
AN ACT concerning business.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the
Educational Technology Right to Repair Act.
Section 5. Definitions. As used in this Act:
"Authorized repair provider" means an individual or
business who has an arrangement with the original equipment
manufacturer under which the original equipment manufacturer
grants to the individual or business a license to use a trade
name, service mark, or other proprietary identifier for the
purposes of offering the services of diagnosis, maintenance,
or repair of educational technology equipment under the name
of the original equipment manufacturer, or other arrangement
with the original equipment manufacturer to offer such
services on behalf of the original equipment manufacturer. An
original equipment manufacturer who offers the services of
diagnosis, maintenance, or repair of its own educational
technology equipment, and who does not have an arrangement
with an unaffiliated individual or business, shall be
considered an authorized repair provider with respect to
educational technology equipment.
"Documentation" means any manual, diagram, reporting

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output, service code description, schematic diagram, security
codes, passwords, or other guidance or information used in
effecting the services of diagnosis, maintenance, or repair of
educational technology equipment.
"Educational technology equipment" means any
self-contained portable personal computer, including
accessories or attachments that come as standard equipment
with the computer, purchased by a publicly-funded school and
used by students at home or in the classroom. "Educational
technology equipment" does not include devices that are sold
through a retail seller or under a specific
business-to-business contract.
"Fair and reasonable terms" means making available parts,
tools, or documentation as follows:
(1) that documentation is made available by the
original equipment manufacturer at no charge, except that,
when the documentation is requested in physical printed
form, a charge may be included for the reasonable, actual
costs of preparing and sending the copy;
(2) that tools are made available by the original
equipment manufacturer at no charge and without requiring
authorization or internet access for use or operation of
the tool, or imposing impediments to access or use of the
tools to diagnose, maintain, or repair and enable full
functionality of digital electronic equipment, or in a
manner that impairs the efficient and cost-effective

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performance of any the diagnosis, maintenance, or repair,
except that, when the tool is requested in physical form,
a charge may be included for the reasonable, actual costs
of preparing and sending the tool; and
(3) that parts are made available by the original
equipment manufacturer, either directly or through an
authorized repair provider, to independents repair
providers and owners at costs and terms that are
equivalent to the most favorable costs and terms under
which an original equipment manufacturer offers the parts
to an authorized repair provider and that:
(A) accounts for any discount, rebate, convenient
and timely means of delivery, means of enabling fully
restored and updated functionality, rights of use, or
other incentive and preference the original
manufacturer offers to an authorized repair provider,
or any additional cost, burden, or impediment the
original equipment manufacturer imposes on an owner or
independent repair provider;
(B) is not conditioned on or imposing a
substantial obligation or restriction that is not
reasonably necessary for enabling the owner or
independent repair provider to engage in the
diagnosis, maintenance, or repair of equipment made by
or on behalf of the original equipment manufacturer;
and

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(C) is not conditioned on an arrangement with the
original equipment manufacturer.
"Independent repair provider" means an individual or
business operating in this State that is unaffiliated with an
original equipment manufacturer that is engaged in the
services of diagnosis, maintenance, or repair of educational
technology equipment.
"Necessary software updates" means security updates to
patch exploits that, if left unaddressed, leave the user
vulnerable to cyber crime, bug fixes, patches, corrections, or
other modifications to Software which do not necessarily add
enhanced features or performance characteristics released by
the original equipment manufacturer or operating system
developer.
"Original equipment manufacturer" means a business engaged
in the business of selling, leasing, or otherwise supplying
new educational technology equipment manufactured by or on
behalf of itself, to any individual or business.
"Operating system" means a program that acts as the
interface between educational technology equipment's hardware
and its software, managing the resources of the equipment and
providing common services for computer programs.
"Operating system developer" means a business engaged in
the business of selling, leasing, licensing, or otherwise
supplying operating system executable code, embedded software,
or firmware for use by educational technology equipment by or

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on behalf of itself, to any individual or business.
"Part" means any replacement part, either new or used,
made available by an original equipment manufacturer for
purposes of effecting the services of maintenance or repair of
educational technology equipment manufactured by or on behalf
of, sold, or otherwise supplied by the original equipment
manufacturer.
"School" means an elementary or secondary school or
another entity which owns or leases educational technology
equipment for use by students in such an institution. It
includes personnel who manage and service educational
technology equipment in their official capacity at a school,
including, but not limited to, information technology
professionals and technology specialists.
"Tools" means any software program, hardware implement, or
other apparatus used for diagnosis, maintenance, or repair of
educational technology equipment, including software or other
mechanisms that provision, program, or pair a new part,
calibrate functionality, or perform any other function
required to bring the product back to fully functional
condition, including any updates.
"Trade secret" has the meaning given to that term in
subsection (d) of Section 2 of the Illinois Trade Secrets Act.
Section 10. Requirements.
(a) For educational technology equipment and parts for

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educational technology equipment that are sold or used in this
State, an original equipment manufacturer shall make available
to any independent repair provider and owner of educational
technology equipment manufactured by on behalf of, or sold by
such original equipment manufacturer, on fair and reasonable
terms, any documentation, parts, and tools, required for the
diagnosis, maintenance, or repair of educational technology
equipment and parts for educational technology equipment,
inclusive of any updates to information. The documentation
parts and tools shall be made available either directly by the
original equipment manufacturer or via an authorized repair
provider.
(b) For equipment that contains an electronic security
lock or other security-related function, the original
equipment manufacturer shall make available to any owner and
independent repair provider, on fair and reasonable terms, any
special documentation, tools, and parts needed to access and
reset the lock or function when disabled in the course of
diagnosis, maintenance, or repair of educational technology
equipment. The documentation, tools, and parts may be made
available through appropriate secure release systems.
(c) For educational technology equipment sold or used in
this State, an original equipment manufacturer shall provide
functional parts to effect the repair of equipment for at
least 10 years after the date a product model or type was
manufactured.

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(d) For educational technology equipment sold or used in
this State, an original equipment manufacturer operating
system developer shall provide necessary software updates of
equipment for at least 10 years after the date a product model
or type was manufactured.
Section 15. Enforcement by Attorney General. A violation
of any of the provisions of this Act is an unlawful practice
under the Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act.
All remedies, penalties, and authority granted to the Attorney
General by that Act shall be available to him or her for the
enforcement of this Act.
Section 20. Limitations.
(a) Nothing in this Act shall require an original
equipment manufacturer to divulge any trade secret to any
owner or independent service provider.
(b) Nothing in this Act shall alter the terms of any
arrangement in force between an authorized repair provider and
an original equipment manufacturer, including, but not limited
to, the performance or provision of warranty or recall repair
work by an authorized repair provider on behalf of an original
equipment manufacturer and pursuant to such arrangement,
except that any provision in the terms that purports to waive,
avoid, restrict or limit the original equipment manufacturer's
obligations to comply with this Act shall be void and

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unenforceable.
(c) No original equipment manufacturer or authorized
repair provider shall be liable for any damage or injury
caused to any educational technology equipment by an
independent repair provider or owner which occurs during the
course of repair, diagnosis, or maintenance.
Section 25. Exclusions. Nothing in this Act shall apply to
any smartphones, tablets without an attached keyboard, or
similar devices.
Section 30. Applicability. This Act applies with respect
to equipment sold or in use on or after the effective date of
this Act.
Section 90. The Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business
Practices Act is amended by adding Section 2BBBB as follows:
(815 ILCS 505/2BBBB new)
Sec. 2BBBB. Violations of the Educational Technology Right
to Repair Act. A person who violates the Educational
Technology Right to Repair Act commits an unlawful practice
within the meaning of this Act.
Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect January
1, 2024.