RIGHT TO REPAIR - An Election Win For Some As The Fight Goes On For The Tech Repair Industry

While our country remains divided on who the next president will be, among other issues, one thing is clear – seriously just one thing because this election cycle was a bare knuckle brawl up and down the ballot all over the country – people all over the country want THE RIGHT TO REPAIR and the freedom to do whatever they want to do with the stuff they own!

In a clear, without a shadow-of-a-doubt, win (by knockout) 74.9%of the voters in Massachusetts said “screw you auto manufacturers, we want to be able to fix our cars when and where we choose.” This is a huge victory for the right to repair movement and will help companies in the automotive industry gain more market share. Let me repeat that for the people on the backrow. A right to repair victory means MORE BUSINESS for those that are in the auto repair business. It means more business for anyone and everyone in this industry. Especially the small business owners who support local communities across the country!

QUICK HISTORY OF AUTOMOTIVE RIGHT TO REPAIR (R2R)

The car manufacturers (OEMs) wanted to restrict competition for auto repair and force car owners back to their dealerships for repair. The AutoCare Industry Association, who helps organize this $392 billion a year industry, didn’t much care for that idea. It took them MORE THAN 10 YEARS fighting for the “Right to Repair” with lots of money, hard work, collaboration, and negotiation to win their R2R battle in 2014. This happened only after getting a law passed in the Massachusetts legislature (H 4362) in July of 2012 followed by a statewide ballot win in November 2012 (86% win).

A few months later the major parties (Auto repair industry associations & OEMs) got together and signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) which committed the vehicle OEMs to meet the requirements of the Massachusetts law in all fifty states. Why an MOU? Mainly because the OEMs knew they were beat and didn’t want to fight the battle all over the country in the courts. So R2R became the law of the land for the auto repair industry, which kept the OEMs from restricting repair and hurting small business owners.

Pretty cool, huh? Not so fast. Because the law made an exception for vehicle data, which was not as big a deal to folks in 2013 as it is now. The OEMs tried to say that the car data (from your car) belonged to them and they didn’t need to share it with 3^rd party repair to help fix your car – which would force owners back to the dealership. The auto repair associations took it back to Massachusetts which resulted in the recent victory.

Now you are all caught up.

AN AUTOMOTIVE R2R WIN! WHAT ABOUT TECH REPAIR?

While many in the digital R2R movement are left with a good feeling about this vote it does very little to advance the R2R movement for consumer electronics, farm equipment, appliances, medical equipment or the repair of other types of tech. Sure, it sets a precedent that might encourage other state legislatures to work on getting a digital R2R bill moving in the coming year. But here’s the deal, the road ahead is long and will require a lot more money, hard work, collaboration, and negotiation to ever get this to a vote.

As I stated in an earlier post, “TECH REPAIR – What Exactly is the Independent Tech Repair Industry...” the current digital R2R movement is a grassroots movement that is outmanned and underfunded. Many in the repair industry don’t even know that it exists or how it might help them to succeed. Louis Rossmann, with more than 1.3 million followers on YouTube, is one of the industry’s leading voices and has spoken often about the R2R movement. He has given testimony at multiple hearings and broadcast those hearings on YouTube – which are some of his highest viewed videos. But even he has expressed doubt in the R2R movements chances of passing.

Right to repair is scary for many. Most don’t want to get involved, despite the fact that R2R is a non-partisan issue that is supported by both the democrats and republicans. It’s opposed by big tech companies like Apple, Amazon, and Google who literally have billions of dollars to squash anyone who gets in their way. Yes, government agencies need to do something to limit their power, but small and medium size businesses need to do something too.

ORGANIZE AND UNIFY OR DIE!

There are many battles for the tech repair, refurbishing, and recycling industries to fight, and right to repair is only one of them. Right now, the industry only has a small piece of the pie to fight over, which just leads to a race to bottom to lick up the scraps. A unified industry could increase the size of the pie and create more opportunities for everyone to grow their business.

A lot of people love to compare the industry to the “Wild West”, which at one point, about ten years ago, was accurate. Over the last ten years the industry has matured greatly into a $20-40 billion a year industry with many well established and successful organizations now doing business within it. But now its more like any other boom or bust industry without much stability, like the most recent dot com bust earlier in this century.

There is incredible opportunity in the industry, so people rush into it without thinking or building a solid business plan. There are few, if any, bars to entry. Want to fix phones? You could be up and running this afternoon. Refurbishing company? Sure, why not. How about recycling? Sounds like a swell idea.

But just like Mike Tyson said, “Everyone has a plan until you get punched in the mouth.” In this scenario big tech companies (Apple, Amazon & Google) are Mike Tyson. You open what you think will be a successful tech solution company in repair, refuse or recycle and then Mike Tyson comes and punches you in the mouth.

In most businesses you might take (big tech) Mike Tyson to court and sue him for damages. But you’re no match for (big tech) Mike Tyson and he just beats the hell out of you and leaves for dead. Sound familiar?

I can tell you story after story (including my own) where a big tech company has come along and punched someone in this industry in the mouth and left them for dead. It has happened to repair shops, refurbishing companies, recyclers, and many other small, medium, and bigger businesses in the tech solutions/care industry.

STOP WORKING AGAINST EACH OTHER AND WORK TOGETHER TO MOVE THE INDUSTRY FORWARD!!!

The enemy is not each other it’s the big tech companies that want to punch you in the mouth!

A united tech care industry could help pass right to repair and seize more market opportunities for itself. A divided industry will continue to be a boom/bust industry with little to no stability under the thumb of big tech companies.

Let me leave you with a final thought, Buster Douglas beat the much-feared Mike Tyson, not because he was the stronger fighter, but because he had a better plan. Let’s make a better plan for the tech care industry!

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