We talk a lot on this blog about why it’s getting harder to fix electronics. Not just because of how those devices are designed, but also because a lot manufacturers don’t want anyone to know how to fix them. And those companies can issue legal threats to keep repair information – like schematics and repair manuals – out of public view.
It looks like Louis Rossmann, an independent Apple repair tech, is fending off a legal attack from one of those companies.
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For context, Louis does board-level repairs of Apple laptops. You can’t do that and you can’t teach other people how to fix boards without circuit schematics – which he shows on his channel. Most electronics companies don’t share schematics with the public. And certain companies might argue that showing schematics on video is a violation of their copyright. (Louis, by the way, was one of the most vocal supporters of a Right to Repair law in New York that would have protected independent repair techs and given them more access to repair information. Apple’s lobbyists killed the bill before it could be voted on.)
Happy 4th of July, America.
I have no problem with people repairing hardware.
However online sharing of current manuals and schematics is blatant copyright infringement.
I’d argue the sharing of manuals and schematics so that people who have paid for a device can learn to repair it is fair use. But that’s crazy talk in the post-modern age.
Long time ago, in a non-US country, you paid for the device and the manual, the schematics and a parts list. They were included with the product you bought.
But today, you don’t buy things, you license them – a construct where the owner (not you!) grants you a certain set of rights for a specific span of time related to the object licensed, which can be a software program, a car, a coffee maker, a TV set, a battery charger or a light bulb. Repairing things is a violation against the belief in exponential growth, it is undermining brainless consumption and puts people in charge of where companies should rule. So don’t do it, it’s bad for “everyone”. 😉
Well then under your rights to fair use, if it is defective or breaks, they should replace it, right? After all, you don’t own it, you license the use of it.
It’s a mistake to talk about law as though it’s just statements in English. Law, like science, has its many fields which don’t crossover. Fair use is applicable only to copyright law. Machines and devices don’t come under copyright law. That’s covered by patents. In either case, is wholly irrelevant in this context.
America used to be a liberal democratic republic with a capitalist market economy. But something went wrong, over time the democratic and republic parts were replaced with just pure capitalism everywhere – that’s what neoliberalism is. The transition was sold it as meritocracy and other forms of nonsense, but it’s just a “pure” or fundamental form of capitalism.
Money talks in a capitalist legislatures, and Apple’s money spoke the loudest. It’s pointless to argue that it’s anything other than laws and advantages for the highest bidder. Markets everywhere, even the legislature. It’s a system that can’t perpetuate itself, as the system will inevitably twist itself into something else. Yet the sys-admins can’t seem to see the glaring problems with it right front of their noses.
The EU has an even more “pure” version of that kind of system built into its core, having left out the levers a government might pull to at least correct crappy market outcomes, if markets must be the sole method for anything and everything. I’m surprised people have put up with it this long. The British public seems to have figured it out.
huh? the government went from ~3% gdp over to almost 40% gdp. reality is the US has gone socialist and the government has way too much power choosing winnders and losers, especially through the crazy system of red tape and regulation.
Your answer seems to imply that you think any government involvement in the economy makes it socialism. There has never been a private only economy that didn’t have heaps of government involvement. This is true in all the different kinds of capitalism, and especially in the US (think back – the US used the army to suppress people while private enterprise built the railroad for example, or look at all the private companies that benefited from the recent war in Iraq). Laissez-faire (or the free market, or libertarianism, or whatever) can’t be implemented because too many people have too much interest in using the state to protect their assets. That will never change.
Modern democratic governments are designed to create some kind of balancing force to keep that from getting out of hand, often while failing to balance capitalist economics. The New Deal set up a decent but not great framework, but was attacked almost immediately, and eventually defeated.
Capitalism is about who has a claim on the ownership of business (and profits) and therefor control over such (and this is where you get variety in capitalist systems), and about the relationship between employer and employee (there is no variety here – all capitalism has an employer/employee class system). America is a mostly private enterprise kind of capitalism, most of Europe uses a more mixed but still largely private capitalist economy, and China uses a kind of state capitalism, where businesses are mostly owned by the state. The social aspects of Capitalist nations (the welfare state and all forms of social and environmental regulations etc.) are being attacked, and the parties that support these things are being undermined by the simplistic pursuit of profit in the name of the holy Free Market. This is a global problem.
So yes, the U.S. has gone with a more “pure capitalism” in the sense that the captains of U.S. enterprises (the owners/employers) have been given (or taken) quite a bit more power over both our economy and our government, and have been using that power to decide how to allocate resources, as is their right in capitalism. This is how capitalism works.
BTW, GDP is pointless if it’s allocated into the hands of the few…
It seems that everything is fun at the beginning, when nobody is really interested in this business until they see that there could be loads of money made from it.
Patents, closed source paradigms, shady outsourcing tactics and trying to attend unknowing masses by mass marketing all don’t go well with the repair men ideology.
How many people know what their new shinny tool actually does these days? They were never technical enough to understand this and just got caught in this marketing tactics form which only the big guys win.
Sad to see this being as it is, bu it happens to any other industry which tries to protect their profits.
Edited 2016-07-02 09:04 UTC
Well it would seem people aren’t even given a chance to know and that it’s easier to do than people assume it is.
unclefester,
Having watched a few, the schematics are certainly not the focus of his videos, which are 45 minute uncut repair howtos documenting the entire process from A to Z. He’s just showing the viewer what he’s doing and thinking, so personally I kind of think referring to a schematic for a few seconds should be fair use – it generally would be in other copyright contexts.
I agree with you it’s a good point to bring up, but I doubt copyright violations are the underlying motive here. They probably dislike how critical his videos are of products, and yelling “copyright violation” may merely be a tool with which to have embarrassing content removed. He certainly doesn’t hold back his opinions; when videos like this get back to HQ (at apple or elsewhere), they must not like that he’s undermining their credibility.
Can Louis beat the genius bar while wasted off Jagermeister?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qM6EO7_5cho
How the genius bar handles data during customer repairs sucks.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39WOfTZHyrg
…
It looks like he’s got many similar videos, so this may be why they’re going after him.
I wish he had given more information and didn’t force us to speculate like this. Hopefully we’ll learn about the details, and at least who he’s up against, in the future.
Edited 2016-07-02 04:09 UTC
I have a relative that works on or repairs the electrical wiring of cars.
When a car model arrives that he has never seen before, he’ll ask the manufacturer to send him the diagram* of the wiring of the car and they do. As I understand it they are required to do this by law.
But this is also how it could work for other devices. This is the least they could do. A lot of things can’t easily be repaired anyway, because of software checks.
* here is where it gets kind of strange, how does he request it ? He does this by fax and they’ll send it back by fax. Not sure why it needs to happen by fax, but that is a totally different story.
Well that’s easy. Just like those cashback deals, they know most people won’t bother with it, even if they could technically and legally get it, if it’s not convenient. And it’s easy to make things inconvenient.
But fax is pretty much as easy as email, just get an account with a fax2email provider and just send an email and get an email back.
The irony is, you can get schematics for Apple products. You just have to become a licensed Apple repair technician – in which case you are strictly forbidden from performing board level repairs. The penalty is they strip your license and you cant get schematics anymore…
The irony. The only way to legitimately get the information you need to perform actual repairs is to sign away the right to perform them. Apple doesn’t want anyone doing this kind of work. Apple wants to charge for a new part for non-warranty work, and also get the old part back so they can refurb it and use it for warranty work.
Licensed Apple repairman are nothing more than parts swappers. This guy (the one the article is about) is an actual repairman – he fixes stuff…
galvanash,
The way I see it, there are two reasons they wouldn’t like this: 1. It makes the official repair shops look less competent. 2. Unauthorized repairs cut into their profits.
“…They probably dislike how critical his videos are of products…”
Neither is going to work. This is blatantly over the board.
dionicio,
I have no idea what this means here, but maybe I can use it next time I’m asked to do chores…
Wife: “I need you to do the dishes and buy groceries after work.”
Me: “Neither is going to work. This is blatantly over the board.”
…Profit?
Edited 2016-07-03 01:28 UTC
…Everybody knows culture doesn’t work that freaking way. Save yourselves an extremely costly mistake: Open your eyes, is not going to work.
Trying to say that Alfman could be right about real motif.
How much could they win money wise? This is blatant hubris.
And the reason I don’t think is going to work is because it’s terribly damaging to people’s sense of self-sufficiency.
No country -specially one aspiring to keep hegemonic status- would want that.
That’s an argument that can only be “fairly” backed up if the manuals/ schematics are available to ANYBODY either free or perhaps for a reasonable fee (definitely less that a few hundred dollars), and signing of a disclaimer perhaps.
You certainly shouldn’t have to be an authorized/vetted repair person if you’re only looking to doing non-authorised (not un-authorised) repairs.
It’s sad that at some point prior to collapse of modern civilization, it seems the “ethical behaviour” of companies is going to have to be legislated for
It’s a rather obvious consequence of viewing money as the goal for companies to strive for instead of as a tool…
well put
There are some reasons that they are not willing to provide these blueprints easily (and this is not just Apple doing).
One would be that some people getting their hands on them will create clones faster then the original manufacturer will be able to sell them on the market (just look at how many IBM “compatible” PC’s were made back in the days).
Second is that it’s probably cheaper and faster to replace a non functioning part than have it diagnosed and actually repair it.
If in the first place the repair time and money invested in skilled people is costlier, the second option seems to benefit both parties (consumers by getting their fixed device faster and store owners that will have lower costs for this entire process).
Last but not least there is the credibility of repair shop. Not everyone is Louis and there are plenty of so called professionals that don’t know how to do this properly.
Not sure now if Apple would do such a thing (either by closing his channel or offer some NDA agreements with him just to make his job easier), but it’s all in the companies benefits that these decisions are made.
I would doubt that. Modern electronics are very dirty to create and to dump. The costs are being ignored for now but they are there and will come back around. There’s only so much toxic sludge the Chinese manufacturers can dump into their drinking water.
Perhaps this wouldn’t be the case if these gadgets were built from the ground up to be user-serviceable, instead of having the RAM soldered on, and other things that make it a pain in the ass for the end user to fix their own stuff.
For the sake of small or slim devices – manufacturer with very tight tolerances etc – I can see the manufacturing and design arguments for solder compenents, robot applied chips etc.
But you’re still right in there “should” be a market for more user serviceable and robust device offerings. Perhaps if the Ara project ever actually gets of the ground (since it’s never going to be the super slimmest anyway) it’s compenents could be mandated to be produced with a certain level of serviceability and robustness.
Could be another selling point beyond just the modularity.
So ok as someone who at one point did electronics design, I want to point out that anyone with an electronics engineering degree or a computer engineering degree, that is actually really good at it, can just look at a board and tell you what does what and how to repair it if you are familiar with the technologies used and che chips.
Is that illegal also? I mean, you’re not breaking any secret by telling someone how electronics work.
What’s next? NDAs at those majors in universities?! Give me a freaking break.
…Everybody knows culture doesn’t work that freaking way. Save yourselves an extremely costly mistake: Open your eyes, is not going to work.
the US new national anthem:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I8P80A8vy9I
This one, I feel, actually represents its national character and what the country is about much better than the old one.
As alternative he can point is bussiness towards reparation of John Deere tractors.
Oh wait!
http://www.wired.com/2015/04/dmca-ownership-john-deere/
https://theamericangenius.com/business-news/farmers-cant-legally-fix…
1984 Was not supposed to be an instruction manual.
This could not be anymore the ingenious, but the ‘hands-attached’ America. Come on you all. Let’s go back to carpentry.
Hottest American pockets, Lawyers’.
I guess the problem is that he actually shows some of the circuit schematics in his videos.
If he just stop doing that I would guess it would be fine.
That technology allows Corps to do more. People is not only asked, but required to do less.
Not being Luddite, but this is really bad. This is killing culture, as a property of the people. This teach helplessness, the forced way. They’re literally diminishing our economic existence. [Being Post-Orwellian, time will come when They will consider diminishing our existence, as a whole. A ‘paradise’ just for themselves].
One thing is Corps deciding to go Post-Orwellian an another Us following through OUR OWN DISMISSAL.
I’ve been watching his videos for 3 or 4 months. I can’t remember how I ended up subscribing, but what he does blows my mind… He is a nice guy, but extremely opinionated about the quality of Apple hardware. It can be quite hard to watch if you like Mac’s.
Why ? I own Mac (Mini and MB Pro, also PC) and for me they are all nothing more than a slab of plastic and metal, which I’d throw into a trash without any feeling – other than maybe smell of trash can.
It can be hard to watch if you like Mac’s
Yes? Like – as in “think they are good, enjoy them, covet their design, believe Apple are hardware geniuses”. Louis says some extremely harsh things and is a bit of a Thinkpad “fanboy”. Personally, I “hate” Thinkpads. I’ve used two different models through a couple of jobs and the touchpad on this latest one is absolute garbage.
There is already a backup of 700 of his videos on the Internet Archive Library.
https://archive.org/details/louis.rossmann.yt.backup
This short documentary (with English subtitles) suggests that Cubans became more inventive and embraced the DIY culture as a result of being separated by economic sanctions in the 60s:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-XS4aueDUg
I am very ignorant of what goes on in Cuba and was born too late to really “get it”. But this DIY phenomenon there feels like the opposite of what has been developing in the US (and elsewhere). Our products became DIY unfriendly because corporations wanted more control and sales and were largely successful in making us dependent upon them.
Whatever Cubans are coming back in term of US relationship, don’t see Them renouncing to this DIY Culture. Not the same mistake again. To watch closely.
I grew up with Popular Mechanics, Christ sake!
As an Electrical Engineer, I’d argue that schematics can’t be covered by copyright – they’re PURELY functional, not creative. If they have enough inventiveness and utility, they might be covered by patent. They can CERTAINLY be placed under trade secret. But copyright? Not a chance. Even if some moronic judge says they’re eligible for copyright, parts lists and block diagrams clearly aren’t, any more than a phone book would be (and they’re not).
As an Electronics Engineer, I’d argue the opposite that schematics indeed are covered by copyright. In that regard, schematics are not any different than source code. They are the creative representation of the design, definitively covered by copyright.
That said, quite frankly there is seldom much exiting stuff in schematics. It’s mostly variations or tweaks of the examples found in the datasheets and application notes from the semiconductor manufacturers. The “creativity” is in the combination of the circuits/functionality as a whole. A simplified view is to see it as a Lego build. Take a collection of parts/functionality and put them together to create what you are after. The rest is mostly drudge work.
No surprise that any sort of individual rights bill was killed in New York, of all places. Thom, have you looked at the politics coming out of there in recent years? Flat out crazy!
And no one seems to have noticed that Louis posted an update the Same Day to say he wasn’t being sued.
iFixIt also posted an update to the linked story