The FTC’s settlement requires Deere—for the next 10 years and under the supervision of the FTC and plaintiff states—to provide farmers and independent repair providers with the same equipment repair resources, including applicable software capabilities, that it currently provides to authorized Deere dealers. FTC, States Secure Settlement with Deere & Company, Advancing Farmers’ Right to Repair | Federal Trade Commission This is good, but why are US even allowing this structure? Everyone disagrees - apart from revenue stream shareholders. Strike?
John Deere's greed literally made their 10 and 20 year old machinery more expensive on the market than their new ones. And you can mess with lots of people and get away with it. But if you prevent a farmer from getting their harvest in on time because you're trying to screw 'em over with outrageous repair costs and logistical challenges by not allowing them the right to repair what they lawfully own it's gonna be a really big can of whoop arse they open up on you. What John Deere also did was unite the Democrats and GOP against them, as well as losing in court. And that doesn't mean this is over. There's still plenty of wretched corporations following in their footsteps and some will likely get away with it.
"Deere has been arguing since 2015 that because the equipment they sell runs on code, farmers don’t really own their tractors—they just have “an implied license for the life of the vehicle to operate the vehicle.”" Deere Promised Farmers the Right to Repair. Can We Trust Them? - iFixit Legal settlements since then have been presented as palliating this situation: American farmer pushes for right to repair equipment amid rising costs | Fox Business If all that had satisfied end users, the two recent decisions against Deere would not have happened. -- An interesting workaround published in 2025 September: The Tractor Repair Scam: John Deere's Digital Lockdown and the Farmers Who Hacked It - Gadget Review Where can be read: "Farmers now buy cracked versions of John Deere’s diagnostic software from Ukrainian technicians who publish modified firmware online."
Very relevant. Some people seem to totally ignore the fact that mechanics have to pay for absurd amounts of tools at 50k usd (which is not allowed in Europe) and likely soon also have a personal subscription with the manufacturer … it’s reasonable only in the US. Sorry, but this is focused solely on the destruction of right to repair (oh, ”freedom to fix” now..?).
