In a world where your phone, your tractor, your thermostat, even your coffee maker, can be “ransomwared” by the very company that sold it to you, the Right to Repair and Right to Own movements are no longer niche causes. They are survival tools for the modern consumer.
There’s a creeping shift in the way companies treat the things you buy.
Not as yours , but as theirs, on a loan, until they decide you’ve paid enough, behaved enough, or accepted enough new terms to keep using them.
It’s happening everywhere:
- Your thermostat? Remotely disabled- now a professionally mounted BRICK on your wall- because a company went bankrupt.
- I am altering the deal: Pay us a subscription to access local control now!
- Your bike? Locked down by firmware so you can’t use it without paying up.
- Can’t even ride your own exercise bike, because we weren’t making enough money!
- Your creative software? The “deal” is changed after you’ve already bought in.
- We’re working on replacing you, and you will let us!
We call this The Corporate Kill Switch, and it’s time to name and shame.
Case 1: The SmartHome Thermostat Hostage Crisis
If you want to see what “digital betrayal” looks like, start in Norway. A smart home company goes bankrupt. And thousands of thermostats, devices inside people’s homes, that most people get professionally installed into the home’s climate controls at the cost of hundreds of dollars, stop working because the authorization is gone.
No server, no payment, no heat.
The alarm for this was sounded by Consumer Rights Advocate, Louis Rossmann of Rossmann Repair Group. The smart home company, Futurehome, went into bankruptcy due to problems with long term profitability.
Due to this, a forcible patch to the smart home thermostat was pushed out in which all access to the thermostat- whether it is over the internet and app, or just over a physical button the old fashioned way- is completely locked down without now paying a subscription fee.
For a smart device that you bought, paid for, and now, “I am altering the deal, pray I don’t alter it any further.”
It’s not *literally* ransomware. But tell that to the family shivering in January because their $300 “smart” thermostat is now a $300 paperweight.
(Professionally mounted to the wall though, so it’s just as useless).
This is why MasterTradeTools is most offended by this case:
- It weaponized a basic necessity (heat) to enforce corporate control.
- It exposed the fragility of cloud-tethered devices: updates will get pushed, and there’s nothing you can do about it.
- It showed how quickly “smart” turns into hostage.
Somewhere, Clippy– yes, the annoying Microsoft Office helper from the ‘90s- should be popping up saying: “It looks like you’re trying to adjust your heat. Unfortunately, you’ll need to agree to new terms, pay a fee, and wait for corporate approval.”
The full video on this can be watched here:
Case 2: The Echelon Fitness Firmware Lockout
Full Consumer Rights Wiki page
In July 2025, Echelon Fitness pushed a non-reversible firmware update to thousands of exercise bikes, that again, people had paid for. What it did:
- Blocked all third-party apps like QZ (which had helped sell their bikes in the first place).
- Required constant internet connection and server “approval” before any function works — even manual workouts!
- Eliminated the offline mode entirely, mandatory internet connection to function.
They didn’t break the hardware. They just made it stop working unless you pay them monthly. You didn’t “buy” a $2,000 bike. You bought the privilege of asking permission to use it.
It’s a bait-and-switch that mirrors the SmartHome betrayal — only this time, it’s your own cardio that’s being held hostage.
Case 3: Adobe’s “I Am Altering the Deal” Moment
Remember when Adobe quietly updated its Terms of Service to give itself more power over how you could use its products — products you’d already bought and subscribed to?
Adobe Photoshop and the rest of their creative cloud have been the name brand in photo editing for decades, and things were all well and fine when you could buy their software outright and have a perpetual license. You could control the implementation and installation, and all was well.
Then, they went to a subscription only model, where the only way to get any updates is to subject yourself to paying forever. And if there is an update you do not like, tough noogies.
What made Adobe really come under fire was when Adobe altered the deal, and told you to pray they didn’t alter it any further.
No, they didn’t kick you off Photoshop overnight. But they planted the seed that says: We can change the rules any time, and you’ll accept it because you can’t afford to leave.
The new deal, accepting the phone book length Terms and Conditions before you’re allowed to use the software at your next sign in- knowing that most people do this AT WORK and have TASKS TO DO so they will just click “OK”- contained clauses that allowed Adobe to train Artificial Intelligence models on the work you are doing. AI Models that Adobe would use to sell services that fundamentally replace the need for Photoshop’s customer base of photo editors and graphic designers. Photos that are most likely copyrighted, not by the person editing them, but swallowed up en-masse without compensation, permission or opt-out.
Not even Microsoft and Google swallow up Enterprise, Healthcare or Government data like that.
They backed down after outrage, but the damage was done.
It’s the same playbook:
- Lock you in with proprietary tools and file formats.
- Gradually strip control until “ownership” is just a memory.
- Dare you to walk away when your entire workflow depends on them.
The Pattern
Across all three cases, the core tactics are the same:
- Cloud-locked functionality — The device or software becomes useless without the vendor’s blessing.
- Retroactive control — The rules change after you’ve already paid.
- Legalized lockout — Terms of Service act as a shield for corporate hostage-taking.
It’s not a bug, it’s a feature.
Why Right to Own & Repair Matter Now
When you buy something, you should own it. Not the right to access it until the servers die. Not the conditional use license subject to sudden revision.
OWN IT.
Right to Repair and Right to Own mean:
- You can fix it without begging for permission.
- You can use it without a corporate internet connection.
- You can choose your own software, your own parts, your own integrations.
At MasterTradeTools, we apply the same principle to finance: if you don’t have custody, you don’t have control. And if you don’t have control, you don’t have ownership.
Clippy, The Freedom Fighter
What started as a joke — Clippy as the mascot for pushing back against overreach — has caught on.
In 2025, Clippy is no longer the bumbling assistant. As Louis Rossmann points out, if you took an installation of Office 1997 today and used it, Clippy would still work just as good as he did in 97.
He doesn’t parse the content of your letter to gauge your mood and emotional condition, a la Meta or Spotify, to better sell you an ad. He won’t language police your letter to report you to Human Resources, like Slack. He isn’t building an AI database of your work for the explicit purpose of replacing your labor and livelihood behind mass produced slop, like Adobe.
He just works, offline, and waiting, built to help you do what you needed.
He’s the pixelated resistance leader whispering: “It looks like you’re being robbed of your rights. Would you like help telling them to shove it?”
That’s why Clippy has become an ironic symbol of resistance: the corporate “assistant” who once just annoyed you, now stands in for the entire class of corporate control layers that think they own your home, your car, your devices.
We stand with Louis Rossmann, and Clippy. We stand with your right to own, repair, and control the things you’ve paid for, and we stand with your rights to own more and get more control.
Full video from Louis Rossmann:
What You Can Do
- Demand transparency, don’t buy from companies with “kill switches” in their products.
- www.consumerrights.wiki
- Disable automatic updates on devices that can be taken over remotely.
- Support Right to Repair legislation in your country or state.
- Report violations to the FTC or your national consumer protection agency.
And remember: a rose by any other name would smell as sweet — and ransomware by any other name is still someone taking your stuff until you pay up.
MasterTradeTools: Why We Exist
1. You Own It—Period
Your funds, your data, your dashboard: at MTT, you’re custodial. We never hold your assets hostage, and we will find ways to work with you.
2. We’re Transparent & Ethical
We don’t hide behind legalese or change the deal after the fact. No AI is going to be trained on your personal records. No surprise “feature removal” baked into updates. If you’ve earned it, you keep it.
3. We Stand with Right to Own & Repair
It’s not radical: your property should stay yours. MTT actively supports legislation and cultural awareness to protect ownership and repair rights in tech.
4. We Fight the Suits (and the Terms)
We’re your corporate shield, taking the slings that typically land on powerless users:
- Ejected from your own smart home after bankruptcy? Not here.
- Locked out of your work after a TOS “tweak”? Not here.
- Extorted by malware or device restrictions? Not on our watch.
When you pay, you own. And when they push, Clippy clips back; a symbol of resistance, cultural defiance, and restoration of user rights.
We post live results, https://www.mastertradetools.com/public_view_dashboard2 , and we back these up regularly. Get real, traceable, third party reports here : https://archive.is/www.mastertradetools.com