An Act relating to the diagnosis, maintenance, and repair of products that use digital electronics to operate; adding an unlawful act to the Alaska Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Act; and providing for an effective date.

HB0162a -1- HB 162 New Text Underlined [DELETED TEXT BRACKETED] 34-LS0809\A HOUSE BILL NO. 162 IN THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA THIRTY-FOURTH LEGISLATURE - FIRST SESSION BY REPRESENTATIVE DIBERT Introduced: 3/28/25 Referred: Community and Regional Affairs, Labor and Commerce A BILL FOR AN ACT ENTITLED "An Act relating to the diagnos is, maintenance, and repair of p roducts that use digital 1 electronics to operate; adding an unlawful act to the Alaska Un fair Trade Practices and 2 Consumer Protection Act; and providing for an effective date." 3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 4 * Section 1. The uncodified law of the State o f Alaska is amended by adding a new section 5 to read: 6 SHORT TITLE. This Act may be known as the Digital Right to Repair Act. 7 * Sec. 2. AS 45.45 is amended by adding new sections to read: 8 Article 12A. Digital Product Diagnosis, Maintenance, and Repair. 9 Sec. 45.45.800. Digital product diagnosis, maintenance, and repair. ( a ) A 10 digital product manufacturer s hall, as required under AS 45.45. 800 - 45.45.890, make 11 available to an independent ser vice provider or owner of a digi tal product 12 manufactured, sold, or leased by or on behalf of the manufactur er any documentation, 13 parts, and tools provided to an authorized service provider for the diagnosis, 14 34-LS0809\A HB 162 -2- HB0162a New Text Underlined [DELETED TEXT BRACKETED] maintenance, or repair of the digital product. 1 (b) The documentation, parts, and tools made available under ( a) of this 2 section must include any changes made by the digital product ma nufacturer to update, 3 fix, or improve a computer program, including the program's dat a, or firmware used in 4 the product or part. 5 Sec. 45.45.810. Securi ty features. If a digital product contains an electronic 6 security lock or other security-related feature that is disable d during the diagnosis, 7 maintenance, or repair of the product, the digital product manu facturer shall make 8 available to the independent ser vice provider or owner of the p roduct the 9 documentation, parts, and tools n ecessary to reset the security -related feature. The 10 manufacturer may use appropriate secure release systems to make the documentation, 11 parts, and tools available. 12 Sec. 45.45.820. Unavailable parts. A digital product ma nufacturer is not 13 required to make a part available under AS 45.45.800 - 45.45.89 0 if the part is no 14 longer available to the manufacturer. 15 Sec. 45.45.830. Terms of providing documentation, parts, and to ols. (a) 16 Except as provided in (b) and (c) of this section, a digital pr oduct manufacturer shall 17 make available to an independent service provider or owner of the product 18 (1) documentation requi red under AS 45.45.800 - 45.45.890 with out 19 charge, except that, if the provider or owner requests a physic al copy of the 20 documentation, the manufacturer may charge the provider or owner for the reasonable, 21 actual cost of preparing and sending a copy of the documentation; 22 (2) parts required under AS 45.45.800 - 45.45.890, directly or through 23 an authorized service provider, on terms that are the same as t he most favorable terms 24 the manufacturer provides to an authorized service provider of the manufacturer; 25 (3) the tools required under AS 45.45.800 - 45.45.890 without 26 (A) charge, except that, if the provider or owner requests a t ool 27 in physical form, the manufacturer may charge the provider or o wner for the 28 reasonable, actual costs of preparing and sending the tool; 29 (B) impeding access or use of the tool to diagnose, maintain, or 30 repair and enable full functionality of the digital product; and 31 34-LS0809\A HB0162a -3- HB 162 New Text Underlined [DELETED TEXT BRACKETED] (C) impeding the efficient and cost-effective use of the 1 diagnostic, maintenance, or repair functions of the tool. 2 (b) A digital product manufactur er may not charge an independe nt service 3 provider or an owner a price that is greater than the price the manufacturer charges its 4 authorized service provider, aft er discounts, rebates, and othe r incentive programs, to 5 make the same documentation, part, or tool available. 6 (c) Notwithstanding (a)(2) and (b) of this section, for a digi tal product that is 7 farm equipment, a manufacturer shall, directly or through an au thorized service 8 provider, provide parts on terms and at costs that are reasonab le considering the 9 conditions agreed on, the quality of the parts, and the timeliness of the delivery. 10 Sec. 45.45.840. Independent service provider. A person is considered to be 11 an independent service provider under AS 45.45.800 - 45.45.890 if the person 12 (1) engages in the business of diagnosis, maintenance, or repa ir of 13 digital products in the state; and 14 (2) is not a digital product manufacturer, does not have a lic ense or 15 contract with a digital pr oduct manufacturer under AS 45.45.850 (a), and is not 16 affiliated with a person that has a license or contract with a digital product 17 manufacturer under AS 45.45.850(a). 18 Sec. 45.45.850. Authorized service provider. (a) A person is an authorized 19 service provider under AS 45.45.800 - 45.45.890 if the person has a 20 (1) license to use a trade name, service mark, or other propri etary 21 identification of the digital p roduct manufacturer to offer dia gnosis, maintenance, or 22 repair of digital products under the name of the digital product manufacturer; or 23 (2) contract that is not described in (1) of this subsection w ith the 24 digital product manufacturer to provide diagnosis, maintenance, or repair of digital 25 products that are manufactured by the digital product manufacturer. 26 (b) A digital product manufacturer that offers the services of diagnosis, 27 maintenance, or repair of its o wn digital products is considere d an authorized service 28 provider for such products for the purposes of AS 45.45.800 - 45.45.890. 29 Sec. 45.45.860. Trade secrets. Nothing in AS 45.45.800 - 45.45.890 may be 30 construed to require a digital product manuf acturer to disclose a t r a d e s e c r e t t o a n 31 34-LS0809\A HB 162 -4- HB0162a New Text Underlined [DELETED TEXT BRACKETED] independent service provider or an owner except to the extent n ecessary to make 1 documentation, parts, and tools available under AS 45.45.800 - 45.45.890. In this 2 section, "trade secret" has the meaning given in AS 45.50.940. 3 Sec. 45.45.870. Limitations on application and liability; exemp tion. (a) An 4 agreement that waives, restricts, or otherwise limits the obligations of a digital product 5 manufacturer under AS 45.45.800 - 45.45.890 is void and unenforceable. 6 (b) A digital product manufacturer or authorized service provi der may not be 7 held civilly liable for damages or injuries caused to a digital p r o d u c t b y a n 8 independent service provider or o wner during the course of the independent service 9 provider's or owner's diagnosis, maintenance, or repair of the product. 10 (c) The provisions of AS 45.45.800 - 45.45.890 do not apply to the diagnosis, 11 maintenance, or repair of a dig ital product that is a motor veh icle or a part for a motor 12 vehicle. 13 Sec. 45.45.880. Inte rpretation. Nothing in AS 45.45.800 - 45.45.890 may be 14 construed to require a digital product manufacturer or an autho rized service provider 15 to make available to an independe nt service provider or an owne r the information, 16 other than documentation, that a digital product manufacturer m akes available to an 17 authorized service provider unde r a license or other contract d escribed in 18 AS 45.45.850(a). 19 Sec. 45.45.890. Definitions. In AS 45.45.800 - 45.45.890, 20 (1) "authorized service provider" means a person that is an au thorized 21 service provider under AS 45.45.850; 22 (2) "digital product" means a product that depends for its fun ctioning, 23 in whole or in part, on digital electronics embedded in or attached to the product; 24 (3) "digital product manufacturer" means a person engaged in t he 25 business of selling, leasing, or otherwise supplying new digita l products manufactured 26 by or on behalf of the person to another person; 27 (4) "documentation" means a ma nual, diagram, reporting output, 28 service code description, schema tic diagram, security code, pas sword, or other 29 guidance or information used in effecting the services of diagn osis, maintenance, or 30 repair of a digital product; 31 34-LS0809\A HB0162a -5- HB 162 New Text Underlined [DELETED TEXT BRACKETED] (5) "farm equipment" 1 (A) includes a combine, farm tractor, trailer, sprayer, tillag e 2 implement, baler, engine, motor, or other equipment used or int ended for use 3 on a farm or ranch operation to plant, cultivate, irrigate, or harvest agricultural 4 products or to ranch, and attachments and repair parts for farm equipment; 5 (B) does not include a motor veh icle required to be registered 6 under AS 28.10; 7 (6) "independent service provider" means a person that is an 8 independent service provider under AS 45.45.840; 9 (7) "motor vehicle" means a vehicle designed for transporting persons 10 or property on a street or highway and certified by the manufac turer under all 11 applicable federal emissions standards and requirements for distribution and sale in the 12 United States; 13 (8) "owner" means a person who owns or leases a digital product; 14 (9) "part" means a new or used replacement part that a digital product 15 manufacturer makes available for the maintenance or repair of the product; 16 (10) "tool" includes a software p rogram, hardware implement, or other 17 apparatus used for diagnosis, main tenance, or repair of a digit al product, including 18 software or other mechanisms tha t calibrate, update, program, p air new parts, or 19 otherwise perform a purpose that ensures the product's functionality. 20 * Sec. 3. AS 45.50.471(b) is amended by adding a new paragraph to read: 21 (58) violating AS 45.45.800 - 45.45.890 (digital product diagn osis, 22 maintenance, and repair). 23 * Sec. 4. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to 24 read: 25 APPLICABILITY. This Act applie s to a digital product that is so ld or leased in the 26 state on or after the effective date of this Act. In this secti on, "digital product" has the 27 meaning given in AS 45.45.890. 28 * Sec. 5. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to 29 read: 30 SAVING CLAUSE. This Act may not be construed to change the terms of a license or 31 34-LS0809\A HB 162 -6- HB0162a New Text Underlined [DELETED TEXT BRACKETED] contract that is in effect immediately before the effective date of this Act. 1 * Sec. 6. This Act takes effect January 1, 2026. 2