I'm very glad to see farmers win the right to repair their tractors. It's a win for consumers against bogus #IP objections from manufacturers.
https://www.bbc.com/news/business-64206913
I'm very glad to see farmers win the right to repair their tractors. It's a win for consumers against bogus #IP objections from manufacturers.
https://www.bbc.com/news/business-64206913
Update. Excellent background from @doctorow.
https://doctorow.medium.com/john-deeres-repair-fake-out-79da4978f4c1
"#Deere abuses copyright law to force farmers to pay for official repairs — even when the farmer does the repair. That’s possible thx to a practice called VIN locking, in which engine parts come w #DRM that prevents the tractor from recognizing them until they pay hundreds of dollars for a John Deere technician to come to their farm & type an unlock code into the tractor’s console."
Plus: The win is not as good as it looks.
Update. In rural America, right-to-repair laws are the leading edge of a pushback against growing corporate power.
https://theconversation.com/in-rural-america-right-to-repair-laws-are-the-leading-edge-of-a-pushback-against-growing-corporate-power-199372
"Under the agreement, John #Deere promises to give farmers and independent repair shops access to manuals, diagnostics and parts. But there’s a catch – the agreement isn’t legally binding, and, as part of the deal, the influential #FarmBureau promised not to support any federal or state #RightToRepair legislation."
Update. Turns out that John #Deere has been using open code under the #GPL w/o living up to the license. The Software Freedom Conservancy (@conservancy) is calling on it to comply — which would greatly enhance #farmers' #RightToRepair.
https://sfconservancy.org/blog/2023/mar/16/john-deere-gpl-violations/
"We…publicly call on John Deere to immediately resolve all of its outstanding GPL violations…by providing complete source code…that the GPL & other copyleft licenses require, to the farmers & others who are entitled to it."
I grew up on a farm. My parents worked hard to grow crops and manage the farm business. My parents also found additional jobs to make ends meet. As farmers have done for millennia, my family used tools to farm. Some of those tools were tractors. Farmers now, as they have for thousands of years, rely on their ability and right to fix their tools. Perhaps that's bending a hand rake back into shape. Maybe they need to weld a broken three-point hitch back together. Agriculture was humanity's first truly revolutionary technological advancement. Since its inception, each generation of farmers exercised their right to repair their tools. This has allowed agriculture to grow and improve immeasurably. We take for granted the benefits that this has given us, and the abundance of food it provides.
Update.
The #RightToRepair Is Law in #Minnesota. #California Should Be Next
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2023/05/right-repair-law-minnesota-california-should-be-next
Last week, Minnesota governor Tim Walz signed an omnibus bill that includes a comprehensive right to repair law requiring manufacturers to make spare parts, repair information, and tools available to consumers and repair shops. This law builds on smaller, but still significant, wins in Colorado,...
Update.
#Scientology opposes the #RightToRepair. Wants to shield its E-Meter.
https://www.404media.co/scientologists-ask-government-to-make-hacking-e-meters-illegal/
Update. #Maine has a #RightToRepair initiative on the November 7 ballot.
https://ballotpedia.org/Maine_Question_4,_%22Right_to_Repair_Law%22_Vehicle_Data_Access_Requirement_Initiative_(2023)
Inspiring #RightToRepair story from #Poland. Or perhaps it will be a #NoRightToRepair story.
https://www.404media.co/polish-hackers-repaired-trains-the-manufacturer-artificially-bricked-now-the-train-company-is-threatening-them/
"Three white-hat hackers helped a regional rail company in southwest Poland unbrick a train that had been artificially rendered inoperable by the train’s manufacturer after an independent maintenance company worked on it. The train’s manufacturer is now threatening to sue the hackers who were hired by the independent repair company to fix it."
Update on the train-fixing Polish hackers and the train company's allegations of copyright infringement. Plus the hacker's "overwhelming evidence" that the company deliberately used artificial locks to disable the train.
https://www.404media.co/polish-hackers-explain-exactly-how-they-fixed-trains-that-the-manufacturer-bricked/
Update. #Google supports the #RightToRepair bill in #Oregon, even as applied to #Pixel phones.
https://9to5google.com/2024/01/11/pixel-right-to-repair/
But it adds this proviso: "Legislation should acknowledge the risks borne by unskilled repairers and allow original equipment manufacturers (OEM) to provide parts assemblies rather than individual components to reduce the risk of injury."
Primary source
https://www.gstatic.com/gumdrop/sustainability/right-to-repair.pdf
Maine lawmakers are considering a bill that would institute a statewide consumer products rule — dubbed the “right to repair” — for electronic devices. LD 1487 — An Act to Ensure That Residents of the State Have the Right to Repair Their Own Electronic Devices — was sponsored by Sen. Mike Tipping (D-Penobscot) last year