4.8 • 770 Ratings
🗓️ 16 March 2021
⏱️ 49 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Farmers have always been ready to jump into the dirt and fix their tools. But over the past few decades, tractors and other farm gadgets have complex software that’s hard to decode. The same has happened with our computers, phones, appliances and just about any other tech you can think of. In this episode, Kim dives into the nitty-gritty world of repair politics. Do we really own our tech if we can’t fix it? Are large manufacturers monopolizing the right to repair? Kim talks to Gay Gordon-Byrne, a consumer rights advocate at the heart of this debate, as well as a farmer on the front lines.
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0:00.0 | Yeah, they'll have the Homeland Security come in, which is customs, and say, and they'll seize parts off your shelf. |
0:08.2 | You don't imagine that happening here in the United States of America. |
0:12.9 | No, oh, imagine a big company uses the services of the federal government to support themselves. |
0:18.0 | I'm stunned. |
0:19.3 | Yeah, right. |
0:25.1 | That's Gay Gordon Byrne. She's the head of a repair association. She and her teammates fight every single day for our rights, and you may not |
0:30.3 | even know about the rights that you don't have. It all comes down to, can you fix what you've |
0:35.4 | actually purchased? And in this Kim Commando explains podcast, |
0:38.7 | we're going to be talking about our fundamental rights. Today, companies are very, very protective |
0:43.5 | of all their devices. Apple doesn't even sell repair parts to independent companies. About two years |
0:49.3 | ago, Apple sued a Norwegian repair shop owner by the name of Henrik Hoosby. Why? Well, Housby tried to ship some iPhone screens. |
0:57.6 | Apple claimed that they were counterfeit, so Norwegian Custom seized the screens. |
1:02.5 | Apple sent Huseby a letter saying he had to pay $3,500 to get them back. |
1:07.8 | Oh, and he also had to admit wrongdoing if he didn't want a lawsuit. Well, |
1:12.7 | Huseby refused, so off to the courts they went. Now, although the Norwegian court sided with Huseby, |
1:19.1 | Apple couldn't let it go. In a true David versus Goliath fashion, it appealed the decision, |
1:24.7 | prolonging the court case, and of course, all along the way, increasing Husebee's legal fees because this repair shop owner tried to just ship some screens. |
1:34.3 | It happens close to home, too. |
1:36.4 | One American repair professional by the name of Lewis Rossman wanted to ship some aftermarket laptop batteries. |
1:49.0 | Customs and Border Patrol seized them before they can make it to his repair shop. And you might be wondering, what is going on? |
1:51.0 | What does Apple delivery go after repair shops? |
1:54.0 | Why are these tech companies so protective over repairs? |
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