The Norwegian Consumer Council has released a video that takes direct aim at what tech repair advocate Louis Rossmann calls “ensh**tification.” It is the practice of degrading products and services after purchase to extract more money from consumers.
The satirical video features a fictional “ens**ttificator” who proudly describes his work making products worse, highlighting a problem that has become increasingly pervasive in the digital age.
Where consumers once saw genuine progress from black and white televisions to color, or VHS to Super VHS, today’s tech companies often deliver the opposite. Companies take functioning products and find creative ways to lock features behind paywalls, convert one-time purchases into subscriptions, or limit functionality through software updates.
The Norwegian Consumer Council’s new report, “Breaking Free: Pathways to a Fair Technological Future,” examines how this practice affects both individual consumers and society. Working alongside more than 70 consumer groups across Europe and the United States, the organization is petitioning policymakers in the EU, United Kingdom, and US to address these anti-consumer practices.
Rossmann’s Right to Repair Foundation has been combating these issues through direct action. One notable case involved Future Home, a Norwegian company that manufactured smart thermostats. After the company went bankrupt, new ownership sent firmware updates that restricted device functionality unless customers paid $117 annually. The Foundation offered a $5,000 bounty for anyone who could restore full functionality to these devices, which someone successfully accomplished.
To document these practices systematically, Rossmann has created Consumer Rights Wiki, a searchable database cataloging every instance of companies degrading products post-purchase. The database includes cases ranging from exercise bicycles that suddenly require subscription apps to refrigerators that force users into arbitration agreements buried in discarded paperwork. The Foundation is developing a browser extension that will alert users when visiting websites of companies engaged in these practices.
The video’s satirical approach effectively illustrates real problems: websites filling with pop-ups, software updates that degrade phone performance, cloud storage holding personal photos hostage, and car features suddenly requiring monthly payments. The “ensh**tificator” character gleefully explains how the internet allows scaling these practices to affect millions simultaneously.
Rossmann emphasizes that meaningful progress requires collaboration between organizations, content creators, and consumers. The database needs community contributions to catalog every instance comprehensively, creating a resource ready when governments decide to act. By documenting these practices now with proper citations, advocates can present lawmakers with complete evidence rather than scrambling to compile information later.
