A Polish train manufacturer is suing the hackers who discovered the company had been deliberately bricking trains serviced by independent repair shops. Yes, you read that correctly.

The company didn't sue because the hackers broke their trains. They're suing because the hackers fixed them - and exposed the sabotage in the process.

iFixit reports that security researchers discovered the trains had been programmed to detect non-manufacturer maintenance and simply shut down. When independent repair shops tried to service them, the trains would mysteriously stop working. The only solution? Pay the original manufacturer to come fix it.

This is the right-to-repair fight in its purest form. A company deliberately sabotaging its own product to maintain a repair monopoly, then using the legal system to go after the people who called them out.

The hackers found GPS-based lockouts, date-based lockouts, and code specifically designed to detect third-party repairs. This wasn't a bug. This was engineered planned obsolescence.

Here's what makes me angry: these are trains. Public transportation. Infrastructure that cities depend on. And the manufacturer thought it was acceptable to render them inoperable as a business tactic.

I've been in startup board meetings where people floated ideas like this. They always dress it up as "protecting intellectual property" or "ensuring quality." What they mean is: "we want to control the entire revenue stream."

The technology to lock down hardware is getting more sophisticated every year. The question is whether we're going to let manufacturers use it to hold their customers hostage. Poland might have to answer that question in court.