When called out on it, they then doubled down on this dogshit take: https://archive.ph/quYyb
this post was submitted on 15 Jan 2025
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I... very much do not like this. But the reality is that tech companies are FULL of libertarian tech bro types who only care about "policy" as it equates to their bottom line. And a LOT of companies are going to suck up to trump in the hopes of not being made an example of by the wannabe mafia administration. And the follow up response is still bullshit but it is useful idiot bullshit, if that makes sense.
Gonna look for alternatives but not optimistic.
Louis Rossmann also has "Libertarian" vibes... 😖
Rossman has straight up chud vibes from when he was ranting about the situation where someone was allegedly screaming slurs at a delivery person through their amazon doorbell.
Also he is a guy who had to flee NYC because he couldn't run a business with regulations and instead go to Texas (?).
Given context, I can understand Louis' frustration. A lien had been put on his business for unpaid taxes, with notices of the charges and the summons being sent to an address in Maine where he has never lived or registered his business. So he is the one being prosecuted for the state's clerical error.
I believe him when he says he pays his dues, but that can only happen if he knows about them. He's super libertarian and I don't agree with him on everything, and the New York state fucking up is a one-off error, but that caused the bureaucracy to trip over itself and a lot of hardship for Rossman. So to me it makes sense he moved states to somewhere where they let businesses do pretty much whatever the fuck they want.
... No, he was prosecuted for unpaid taxes. Assuming that was actually a clerical error, any halfway competent lawyer can get charges related to that thrown out. The unpaid taxes... not so much.
So... he didn't pay his taxes and then fled to Texas?
He paid his taxes, he has all the receipts in a binder. Rossman isn't a lawyer. Plus 3 hours with a lawyer would be more than the $1500 New York was looking for originally, but later were threatening with other BS punitive fees. And remember that it took him talking to many hours on the phone to even figure out the Maine address thing. Some agents told him he owed nothing and his account was all good, and some told him he didn't pay taxes, some told him he owed 4000 and didn't know why.
You can criticize Rossman's views or personality, I'm only pushing back on viewing him as a tax-cheat, he is far from that.
Got it. NYC personally attacked rossman over taxes he totally says he paid and then a clerical error made it worse. Obviously.
NOBODY (... except apparently Rob Zacny) admits to tax fraud. EVERYONE is totally innocent but they pay the fines anyway because those tax collectors are just so mean.
Also: You don't need a 600 an hour lawyer to say "My client has never lived at that address. You can see this from the taxes he filed for the past ten years. This was a clerical error and all related fines should be removed. Now let's talk payment plan on those taxes". Yes, it costs money but that is what running a business is about. Especially one where you are going to have disputes over whether a subsequent hardware failure was your fault or not.
And if he was really at a point where 1500 was going to kill his company? His company was already dead.
It's the lien that he couldn't figure out how to resolve that threatened the business, not the fees/fine that he couldn't figure out how to pay. And I mean you've probably made up your mind about him already, but his documentation is there and the virtually all the calls Louis has recorded so it's not just his claims after the fact.
What happened there? I didn't know he left NYC, I used to pass off more difficult electronics repairs to that string of repair shops near Mott st, where he was also based.
Not sure of a good summary of it since the outlets that acknowledge rossman tend to joke about how angry he is and then avoid doing any actual business with him.
But he did a vlog style video or two about how he is a failure as a business person but it is actually New York's fault and having a business in NYC is impossible and blah blah blah and he is moving to Texas. He still tries to keep his mask up for the most part (expect that to change REAL soon...) but... people don't move a business from NYC to Texas (and yes, Austin is still Texas...) if they care about workers' rights...
Yeah that smells pretty bad re: Texas of all places. Ugh.
I could almost excuse that if they were American, but they are Swiss, as is Andy.
They do a lot of business in the US and would likely not want to get banned at a time when people are genuinely looking for a VPN that doesn't pretend it will fight off seal team six for you or an email service that isn't run by google.