There's another right to repair fight brewing in Massachusetts

Post by hpkuarg » Wed, Oct 14, 2020, 1:11 AM UTC

JoshTriplett wrote: post #24

Retric wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s a double edged escape hatch. In practice the vast majority of voters know little to nothing about what’s being decided. On the other hand many third rail political views have a great deal of popular support. So, IMO the trick is to require a very large number of signatures to get on the ballot.

> It’s a double edged escape hatch. In practice the vast majority of voters know little to nothing about what’s being decided. Neither does the legislature, in many cases. On balance I'd rather have direct democracy for the majority of things. It has worked quite well in Oregon, which has an initiative system.

Post by hprotagonist » Wed, Oct 14, 2020, 1:22 AM UTC

ptero wrote: post #17

jghn wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They're incredibly scummy but a super thin veneer. I don't know how anyone buys their BS. On one hand they feature grease monkeys talking about people hacking your car, I'm not sure people should be using their local mechanic for cybersecurity advice. More important, the fine print at the end makes it clear that it's the auto manufacturers sponsoring those ads, and their bias is obvious. I'll lose some faith in human…

I think it will pass,but I am pretty sure that such ballot initiatives are not binding. It might pass only to be quickly forgotten.

Post by throwaway0a5e » Wed, Oct 14, 2020, 1:36 AM UTC

nerdponx wrote: post #23

throwaway0a5e wrote: post #22

While I support right to repair and will be voting accordingly as a born and raised Masshole the whole "centralized platform for service info" thing is a massive red flag to me. Having to go through the government (the proposal as I understand it) to get service literature is only better than having to go through an uncooperative manufacturer. They could have just revoked the exemption for telemetry data without any…

Pardon my ignorance: what centralized platform? As far as I can tell, the proposal requires direct two-way communication between the vehicle and end user.

Post by dragonwriter » Wed, Oct 14, 2020, 1:41 AM UTC

kelnos wrote: post #30

kibwen wrote: post #13

The other ballot option in MA this year, Question 2, would enable ranked choice voting for state and federal elections. There was a bit of a thread about this the other day: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24561551 What's weird is that before moving to MA I had never even heard of ballot options. As far as I can tell they just don't exist in PA, so social studies curricula just don't teach them. I'm increasingly…

We have them in CA as well. I think in general they're a good workaround for getting things passed that the legislature for some reason doesn't have the political will to work on. On the downside, repealing these things usually takes another ballot measure (the legislature can't touch most of these), so if one passes that turns out to be a bad idea, it'll be harder to remove it. Unfortunately we do have a few persist…

Post by godelski » Wed, Oct 14, 2020, 1:46 AM UTC

nessunodoro wrote: post #4

hprotagonist wrote: post #2

The No side's ads are incredibly scummy. The retired boston police commissioner has done an ad spot for Yes on Right To Repair specifically to slap down the "you will be raped in a parking lot" FUD: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0bye5DRBSpw The EFF is also strongly in favor, naturally, but i think Ed Davis will pull more weight if anyone's undecided. (when marijuana legalization was on the ballot in 2016, the then-…

Scummy is a polite word for the advertisements. It's been fascinating to watch them evolve in waves. First wave: POV of a predator in a parking garage approaching a woman. Grave female voiceover: "Sexual predators could track your automobile, and remotely control the vehicle - including unlocking the doors." The female victim turns as the camera descends on her - she screams - "Vote No on Question 1. Don't let sexual…