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Trained repair professionals at hospitals are regularly unable to fix medical devices because of manufacturer lockout codes or the inability to obtain repair parts. During the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, broken ventilators sat unrepaired for weeks or months as manufacturers were overwhelmed with repair requests and independent repair professionals were locked out of them. At the time, I reported that independent repair techs had resorted to creating DIY dongles loaded with jailbroken Ukrainian firmware to fix ventilators without manufacturer permission. Medical device manufacturers also threatened iFixit because it posted ventilator repair manuals on its website. I have also written about people with sleep apnea who have hacked their CPAP machines to improve their basic functionality and to repair them.
PS: he got it repaired.
The right to repair is such an obvious good in the world that those opposed to it should be publicly shamed.
These companies don’t give a single shit about shame. They care about money.
Public shaming should include widespread boycotting and possibly more direct actions.
None of that is a substitute for government regulation. They must be forced to comply.
I was thinking more direct actions but sure we can try government regulation first.
I mean, If we’re talking about imposing vigilante justice on criminal corporate execs, I guess I’m down with that too.
I mean, it absolutely is, if/when it works.