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from the take-a-little-ride-on-the-old-John-Deere dept.
An article about how the Russian military stole farm equipment from a John Deere dealership in the Ukraine, only to find it all remotely disabled when trying to use/sell it on the other side:
Russian troops in the occupied city of Melitopol have stolen all the equipment from a farm equipment dealership -- and shipped it to Chechnya, according to a Ukrainian businessman in the area.
But after a journey of more than 700 miles, the thieves were unable to use any of the equipment -- because it had been locked remotely.
Over the past few weeks there's been a growing number of reports of Russian troops stealing farm equipment, grain and even building materials - beyond widespread looting of residences. But the removal of valuable agricultural equipment from a John Deere dealership in Melitopol speaks to an increasingly organized operation, one that even uses Russian military transport as part of the heist.
[...] Other sources in the Melitopol region say theft by Russian military units has extended to grain held in silos, in a region that produces hundreds of thousands of tonnes of crops a year.
Are there other examples like this justifying some sort of limited DRM? How prominent do you think this will be held up as an example in lobbying efforts to justify not passing "Right To Repair" laws?
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 03 2022, @11:45AM (14 children)
-nomsg
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 03 2022, @11:48AM (8 children)
Found the Russia troll! DRM is winning the war against the antichrist! I'll bet you're a homosexual faggot!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 03 2022, @12:40PM (7 children)
Dood DRM lmao
(Score: 2) by DeathMonkey on Tuesday May 03 2022, @06:51PM (6 children)
To me, "DRM=BAD" is a boring topic.
I'm much more interested in what we do with it now that it exists which is generally lacking in those posts.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 03 2022, @11:22PM (5 children)
DRM means that what you buy isn't yours and the vendor can take it back at any time without recourse or compensation. Russia just found out what that means the hard way. We may laugh but it doesn't make DRM less evil just because it hit someone we don't like this time.
(Score: 1) by anubi on Tuesday May 03 2022, @11:58PM (3 children)
I guess they will either
1) Part the stuff out.
2) Develop their own OS which will not be under control of John Deere.
The latter will be welcomed by farmers all over the world.
"Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [KJV: I Thessalonians 5:21]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 04 2022, @12:00AM (2 children)
3) Junk perfectly good stuff for no good reason
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 04 2022, @12:18AM
Too useful to junk mechanical parts.
But the electronics need to be redesigned to remove the stuff that keeps it from working.
The Russians are damned good at that.
Even in the DOS days, the Russians reversed software to get the trackers out and made it work.
Hat tip to +Fravia and +ORC.
Your teachings will be remembered.
I rank copyright violation right below distributing useful things that compel one to endless servitude.
I don't have the right to demand a refund on software that won't work by claiming the right to "fix" it, "rights" granted by the same authority... That is, I can do it.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 04 2022, @04:04AM
Oh no. Won't somebody please think of those trying to profit from their crusade of mass murder.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 04 2022, @01:23PM
yeah. just gotta hope you're never on the wrong side of the fence (from jd point of view).
also hope that your harvest telemetry adds up to the future bets, long or short, people made from paying jd for that data (monetzing user data, 100% organic and made(!) anonymous). if your bumper crop telemetry data doesn't jieve with futures contract maybe you will be declared "on the wrong side of the fence" too, the side the harvester doesn't start on?
(Score: 2) by DeathMonkey on Tuesday May 03 2022, @03:32PM (3 children)
DRM being a tool I don't really feel one way or the other about it directly.
Like most tools sometimes they can be dangerous and with the universal constant of assholes ruining everything nice for everyone; sometimes they need regulation.
(Score: 5, Interesting) by mcgrew on Tuesday May 03 2022, @06:40PM (2 children)
The only one I want in charge or control of any of my tools is ME. If I cut myself with my own knife, it's my own fault unless the knife was deliberately engineered to cut its owner because its manufacturer wanted him cut.
The hard drive manufacturers are doing the same thing. All of a sudden I couldn't connect a new computer to my Seagate 4TB network drive, which is now a "media streaming device" and not a network drive. I found googling for a fix that it had been done deliberately by Seagate last summer. I suspect that when the Western Digital died, that may have been at the behest of the manufacturer, as well.
This shit should be a prison time felony.
mcgrewbooks.com mcgrew.info nooze.org
(Score: 2) by DeathMonkey on Tuesday May 03 2022, @06:48PM
We would need the will as a nation to pass the regulation required to throw people in jail over this.
(Score: 2) by krishnoid on Tuesday May 03 2022, @06:48PM
Well, there can be a helpful middle ground [reviewgeek.com].
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Tuesday May 03 2022, @08:51PM
Sometimes even bad tools can be used for good porpoises.
The lower I set my standards the more accomplishments I have.