HN Theater @HNTheaterMonth

"My name is Louis Rossmann; I run a laptop repair store, advocate for Right to Repair, and teach component level electronics repair. I have started a 501c4 nonprofit called Repair Preservation Group Action Fund which seeks to get Right to Repair legislation passed, through a direct ballot initiative. Direct ballot initiatives allow citizens to vote on legislation. This way, people - NOT politicians, decide on whether something becomes a law.

Right to Repair is the concept that you should be able to choose who repairs the device you own. We believe you should not be stuck going back to the manufacturer or dealer because parts, chips, manuals or tools are restricted by the manufacturer. Right now, manufacturers collude with a number of companies on a regular basis to keep repair shops & end users from being able to buy parts to fix their devices, going so far as to restrict access to a battery charging IC - one of the most common chips to fail in modern consumer electronics!

Whether it's tractors used by farmers, medical equipment , military equipment , or consumer electronics , this is something that now affects everything we own.

Right to Repair legislation already exists in the automotive industry! This allows you to bring your car to an independent mechanic to have it serviced, so that you have an option besides the dealership(who doesn't always offer the most economically viable repair options to the consumer). It also was amended in 2020 to close a loophole - through direct ballot initiative.

I have been traveling and testifying at Right to Repair bill hearings for six years now. Sometimes, the politicians we speak to are uninterested in our cause. Sometimes they are, but cannot vote on the issue because other items come up in session that are seen as a higher priority. Sometimes they misinterpret the bill. Sometimes, the consumer protection chair runs a car dealership . In other cases, they just laugh us out of the room.

Can I be honest with you? I'm tired of being laughed out of the room, and it's about time we do something about it.

My audience has asked why we do not do a direct ballot initiative; it worked for the car people, right? It did - but it also cost them about 25 million dollars. This is a bit out of budget. The reason we have not done a ballot initiative is because they are very expensive!

I've reached out to the firm that was able to get a direct ballot initiative passed in MA for automotive Right to Repair. They were very helpful, and explained how & why it would cost $5,000,000-$20,000,000 to have a chance at success.

It is my hope that I can leverage the social media following I've amassed over the past 8 years, with a youtube channel of 1.56 million subscribers to be able to accomplish what they accomplished in the lower range of that 5-20 million that was estimated.

This craft allowed me to go from being in debt with $268 in my pocket to being financially secure with a sense of purpose. I have a new challenge everyday - and when I solve these challenges, I am able to bring customers back their lost memories through data recovery, & save them money through solving component level repair puzzles, all while making a good enough profit to pay a livable wage to those doing the work. I owe this industry everything - and want to ensure it is still here for another generation of technicians. Above all, I do not want to accept a future where we do not own anything, but are merely leasing it from the manufacturer until it breaks.

For this, I need your help. What I'd like to do with the funds raised from this campaign, is go for a direct ballot campaign in Massachusetts, retaining the firm that was used for Question 1 in 2020. They have already passed Right to Repair for automotive and when it was passed, it changed how car manufacturers dealt with repair shops throughout the United States. The deadline is in August to apply, and then this would be a ballot option in 2022, so we'd have a year and a half of campaigning & fundraising ahead of us. If we raise the money, we will do this - if we do not, we will go back to the traditional method of lobbying politicians on behalf of specific bills and hoping they pass it. But I am really hoping we raise what is necessary to do this via direct ballot.

I can't promise you victory - but I can promise that I will put in the most aggressive effort possible and that I will dedicate my life to this cause, taking priority over my business and youtube channel for the next two years.

Over the past eight years, with no budget, Right to Repair went from being a huh, what's that? to something more people know about - just from me spouting off on a youtube channel that I upload to on a hobby basis. Let's make this a reality.

Edit; to be clear, if I reach my goal or within earshot of it, I intend to have Repair Preservation Group Action Fund retain Brian Hickey Associates to push for a Right to Repair direct ballot initiative in Massachusetts; the firm that did the direct ballot campaign for automotive right to repair successfully, and make it my job to support their efforts promoting the cause. If I do not reach my goal, we will conduct traditional lobbying efforts to support Right to Repair bills in states that have introduced legislation.

Edit 2; for those saying they want to see a draft bill, here is a basic, vague draft of what we are going for. We would be using these funds to finalize a draft. This was a combination of the MA automotive right to repair bill, mostly drafted by the excellent Kerry at iFixit, with modifications based on our concerns after speaking to other technicians, and people who have businesses manufacturing electronic products to address their concerns. This obviously needs a lot of work from a firm that drafts legislation; Brian Hickey Associates are more than capable of handling this for us. You can very clearly tell where the lawyer ends, and the repair people writing ideas begins, but for people saying they want to see a draft to get an idea of where we are, this is it."

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dWIF3ZRpf0I

⬐ devwastaken

This guy has been fighting for repair for years. He shows just how wasteful companies like Apple are by always quoting a $700 motherboard instead of fixing common board failures. Yes, macbooks have common component level failure points that apple knows, doesn't fix, and don't want you to be able to fix it.

Independent repair has to take to the underground to operate and provide working class people affordable services.

This is something so very worth getting behind.

⬐ mikece

Just donated a non-trivial amount of my stimulus check to this effort. You should too.

⬐ dataflow

Yes! Spread the word too. Also, if you know a professional that might be able to help him out with the legal/politics/etc., consider reaching out. He's a sharp guy but it's still a tough task and he is going to need all the help he can get. And so does our planet.

Donation link: https://www.gofundme.com/f/lets-get-right-to-repair-passed

Pitch for non-techies: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Npd_xDuNi9k

⬐ cudzich09

What's with the low key upvote count. Anyway, incoming donation.

⬐ SpikeDad

Because he's an ass and self-aggrandizer.

⬐ phibz

I found his personal views on some of his live streams to be odious and problematic, specifically those relating to women and bullying others.

That said, his actions around right to repair have been consistent and productive. I see them as a overall positive thing for society.

Like most people things are seldom simple, and neither is he in my opinion. However I still choose to support his work on right to repair.

⬐ bradknowles

Just because he’s a classic “Angry New York Guy” and therefore is an ass, doesn’t make him wrong.

⬐ snvzz

He isn't even Angry. If anything, he's super chill despite all sorts of shit he's been through.

⬐ dataflow

He's literally spent >8 years of his life posting free videos teaching people how to repair electronics, which is a worthy cause in itself. And he's been doing this actively against his own business's interests. And if you watch him you know he hardly ever even asks for financial help. He's put up with a lot of battles through the years and he's had trillion dollar companies try to shut his business down, and his no-nonsense attitude has kept him going to the point where he has a respectable business that now lets him devote 2 more years of his own life to fight this cause. You really feel your evaluation of him is accurate?

⬐ kiba

Hardy against his own business self interest. It's advertising for the Louis Rossmann brand.

I have a macbook pro[1]. Who am I going to send it to if not Rossmann?

[1] Assuming it's possible to get repairs for it.

⬐ dataflow

Oh come on. You're saying he's posting free educational board repair videos to advertise for his brand? Do you watch those videos? Like this one [1]? They're boring as hell. Their target audience is his competitors. You don't see the world flooding with repair shops doing the same thing if it's so profitable, do you? There's so much better advertising he could do if that was his goal. And I haven't even touched on everything else he has done to help other people get started doing board repairs.

It's such a cynical and uncharitable distortion of reality to claim he's doing this for advertising. What's a guy supposed to do to make it even less of an advertisement if he wants to post tutoring videos and pay it forward? Does he need to talk trash about his own business & skills too (which he sometimes does btw)? While simultaneously claiming he's good enough that people should learn from him? With this kind of logic it's practically impossible for a mere mortal to start a business toward a good cause and provide free tutoring to his competitors without getting accused of doing it for his own self interest.

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SR94QHGlYRs

⬐ kiba

I am not saying that he intended it to be advertising for his brand, but that it works out to be advertising for his brand.

⬐ imtringued

Why is advertising bad? Because it is done in a manipulative, coercive, harmful or annoying way? In what way does he commit those advertising sins?

If anything, his non repair videos are pretty awful emotional clickbait, but hey at least they are not advertising, right guys?

⬐ addicted

Anytime someone does something good it works out to be advertising for their brand, whether that brand is a company or just a personal brand. Unless they do it in a way no one ever hears about it. In which case no one will ever be discussing it.

So your comment is less than trivial, unless you’re implying that it’s a bad thing to do something good if you benefit from it even in the slightest.

⬐ CivBase

I suggest changing the title to "Crowdfunding a Direct Ballot Initiative for Right to Repair". The current title is probably not very attention-grabbing because it makes it sound like the video is just about Louis Rossmann's personal plans for the next couple years. If you don't know who Louis is, you'd probably overlook it without a second thought.

⬐ dataflow

I didn't see this in time, and I don't know if it's OK to try this, but I guess someone can try posting the GoFundMe page as another link with that title?

⬐ specialist

Rossmann's transformation is kind of amazing.

It took me much longer to figure out that real change comes from policy work, legislation.

Activists don't have many case studies, role models, mentors. Rossmann just sort of bootstrapped himself.

$6m is a big lift. And I'm bearish about the initiative process, for this issue, at this time. It may prove a good move for the PR and awareness. And there's no shortage of consultants who will happily slurp up campaign dollars for no real benefit. (Noob groups and candidates are bread & butter for consultants.)

I anticipate the Repair Preservation Group Action Fund will step back, come up with another strategy. Maybe a 501c3. Run the ALEC playbook. Model legislation. Find state level allies, like farmers. Pick some low hanging fruit. Get friendly legislators to file their legislation. Do the stump speechifying and speaker tour circuit.

⬐ noxer

I hope the rest of the tech youtuber jump on this especially LTT and other PC/phone hardware channels. Unlike youtubers planting 20 million trees this would actually be useful.

⬐ CivBase

I really like Louis' approach to Right to Repair. He doesn't want to force manufacturers to re-design products for repairability or make their designs open source. He doesn't even want to force manufacturers to offer repair services or to supply parts. He just wants to stop manufacturers from going out of their way to screw over independent repair.

For instance, a manufacturer shouldn't be obligated to sell a part exclusively to another manufacturer in order to do business with them. Third parties should be allowed to ship used goods and parts through customs without having the seized as "counterfeits". Third parties shouldn't have to "partner" with manufacturers just to be able to buy parts. Third parties should be permitted to share technical details about a product (eg independently-developed board views or circuit diagrams).

That's what I want to see. I'd much rather see independent repair be given better legal protection than have a bunch of half-baked, hard-to-enforce regulations piled onto manufacturers who will inevitably find loopholes anyways.

⬐ kiba

I want companies to be able to offer repairable products as a competitive advantage so that I know who to patronize.

⬐ harperlee

The problem is, the market as a whole does not value repairability, so most products end up not being repairable - which ends up being a competitive advantage for them because you sell more units. Repairability becomes a disadvantage, left to market forces.

⬐ ksec

But the market do value durability, which is not something most product end up with.

Repairability is not something we want, but as a result of real world trade offs or manufacturer refuse to take durability seriously. ( Look at Apple MBP 2016 ) Apple could have repair it themselves, but it is increasingly clear Apple Store tries to push for buying new product over simply fix.

⬐ harperlee

Mmh It should value it, but I’m not so sure that it does beyond a fairly low threshold. People dont like buying cheap things that break easily; once you are out of the worst options bag... I’ll keep it anecdotal and say that I haven't seen anyone ponder relative durability of different brands, ever. Even on professional review articles. Where is the discussion of surface vs. Ipad duranbility?