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John Deere Just Swindled Farmers Out of Their Right to Repair

posted by chromas on Friday September 21 2018, @12:00PM   
from the sowing-machines dept.

canopic jug writes:

Wired has published a long article about how the farming equipment manufacturer John Deere has just swindled farmers out of their right to repair their own equipment. Basically the manufacturer was allowed to write the agreement governing access to the firmware embedded in the farming equipment.

Farmers have been some of the strongest allies in the ongoing battle to make it easier for everyone to fix their electronics. This week, though, a powerful organization that's supposed to lobby on behalf of farmers in California has sold them out by reaching a watered-down agreement that will allow companies like John Deere to further cement their repair monopolies.

Farmers around the country have been hacking their way past the software locks that John Deere and other manufacturers put on tractors and other farm equipment, and the Farm Bureau lobbying organization has thus far been one of the most powerful to put its weight behind right to repair legislation, which would require manufacturers to sell repair parts, make diagnostic tools and repair information available to the public, and would require manufacturers to provide a way to get around proprietary software locks that are designed to prevent repair.

Motherboard also covered the topic about how farmer lobbyists sold out their farmers and helped enshrine John Deere's maintenance monopoly.

Earlier on SN:
The Right to Repair Battle Has Come to California (2018)
Apple, Verizon Join Forces to Lobby Against New York's 'Right to Repair' Law (2017)
US Copyright Office Says People Have the Right to Hack their Own Cars' Software (2015)
Jailbreak your Tractor or Make it Run OSS? (2015)

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Original Submission

• Not exactly "sell out" Not exactly "sell out" (Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 21 2018, @01:57PM (2 children)

  by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 21 2018, @01:57PM (#738100)

  Under the agreement, maintenance, diagnostic and repair information not already available will be made available for tractors and combines put into service beginning Jan. 1, 2021.

  OK, so, the date is the problem. Whether you can access source code doesn't really mean too much. The agreement is not exactly a "sell out" especially now where they can lock things down with DRM and you can't change things or know what is even broken.

  Under the “right to repair” agreement, equipment dealers commit to providing access to service manuals, product guides, on-board diagnostics and other information that would help a farmer or rancher to identify or repair problems with the machinery. The agreement includes restrictions. Among them: Source code for proprietary software would not be accessible, and owners would not be able to change equipment in ways that would affect compliance with safety or emissions regulations.

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• Re:Not exactly "sell out" Re:Not exactly "sell out" (Score: 3, Informative) by Arik on Saturday September 22 2018, @01:06AM (1 child)

  by Arik (4543) on Saturday September 22 2018, @01:06AM (#738435) Journal

  "Among them: Source code for proprietary software would not be accessible"
  
  That's an instant deal-breaker for any buyer with a brain.
  
  I'm still hoping to find proof they exist; I'll be interested in seeing how JDs sales figures hold up for the next couple of years.

  --
  If laughter is the best medicine, who are the best doctors?

  Parent

  • Re:Not exactly "sell out" (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday September 22 2018, @11:33AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday September 22 2018, @11:33AM (#738520)

    How does a tractor have source code? Am I missing something here?
    Turn it on, drive it. Right?

    Parent