Mastodawn

Farmers won their right-to-repair fight against John Deere. The settlement includes a 10-year “agreement by Deere to provide ‘the digital tools required for the maintenance, diagnosis, and repair’ of tractors, combines, and other machinery”. https://www.thedrive.com/news/john-deere-to-pay-99-million-in-monumental-right-to-repair-settlement

John Deere to Pay $99 Million in Monumental Right-to-Repair Settlement

The ag manufacturing giant will also make digital diagnostic, maintenance, and repair tools available to third parties for 10 years.

The Drive

Mycotropic 7h ago

This is a very important move in the right direction in my opinion. It sucks that farmers had to legally force #JohnDeere to do the right thing but it looks like a win for consumers!
#Caputalism #FuckCapitalism

Howard Cohen 7h ago

@kottke So, the execs at JD lost their gambit to extort their customers for outrageous repair fees. And, the company has to pay a huge fine.

So, are any of the execs losing their jobs over this debacle?

Let me guess...

Softspeak 7h ago

And just like that new local jobs were created, tractor and farm equipment repair mechanics enter the job market.

The wealthy will have to lose a little wealth and pound dirt.

Passwordsarehard4 6h ago

@softspeak @kottke I highly doubt that. If you could work on these things you already were. It’s complicated work that’s physically demanding and it requires expensive specialized equipment. This allows a Case IH dealer to fix a Deere and not pay a one time license fee which would get passed on. It may lead to less individual shops because they rely on repairing out of date equipment and this makes it worthwhile to upgrade.

S★m V★rm★7h ago

@kottke #GoodNews

Kevin Karhan 6h ago

@kottke only 10 years, not perpetually!

@kkarhan @kottke yeah, i thought they were violating gpl. didnt know this license only lasts for 10 years

Claudius 3h ago

@kkarhan @kottke also no ruling, just a settlement.

Kevin Karhan 3h ago

@claudius @kottke yeah, that is the problem…

Jeff McNeill 6h ago

@kottke Should be 9 billion. These guys have gross profit of 20bn/year. 99m is half a percent of a year of profits. 10-year? Should be forever.

@kottke The good news here, if you are not a farmer: a whole bunch of lawyers are now sharpening their fangs and looking around to see who they can sue next.

Apple please. Or maybe the printer manufacturers? Or... hey we have LOTS of lawyers. Sue them all!

trainguyrom 6h ago

@kottke for those who aren't at all close to farming, John Deere's anti-repair practices have actually inflated the value of antique tractors to the point where many smaller farms rely exclusively on tractors and equipment from the 50s and 60s because it's equipment they can actually fix themselves or call out someone local to fix instead of waiting days or weeks for a "certified" mechanic to drive out from hundreds of miles away, thereby potentially delaying extremely time-sensitive processes like planting or harvesting (where even delaying by a day can be make or break for the year's profitability!)

Choosing to use less efficient pre-computer farm equipment has been far more of a risk management choice than a financial or sentimental one for many farmers for quite some time now

ᴮᵉⁿ ᴿᵒʸᶜᵉVOTE IN THE PRIMARIES 5h ago

ukraine had a nice underground economy selling firmware to american farmers that allowed them to hack their tractors

this was before the stupid ukraine war

it's one of the things that made me think, combined with the fact ukraine was the technological heart of the old soviet union, that russia had made a colossal mistake

ukrainian ingenuity is not something to be trifled with

Jargoggles 4h ago

@benroyce @kottke
Even since the days of the Russian Empire, Ukraine has been the agricultural heartland of the region. Hell, even the colors their flag represent blue skies and wheat fields. They know a thing or three about farming.

Combining the two - early in the war, I remember reading stories about Ukrainians repurposing captured Russian vehicles for agricultural work. I still get a kick out of that.

ᴮᵉⁿ ᴿᵒʸᶜᵉVOTE IN THE PRIMARIES 4h ago

@jargoggles @kottke

yup

video of ukrainian farmers towing away or driving away russian tanks was an early feature of the war

MeaningfulBits 5h ago

@kottke get those tools and black box / reverse engineer / open source them ASAP. As soon as the 10 years is up they are going to disappear and it will be another multi year battle to get access.

TrimTab 🇺🇦4h ago

@kottke
This is not the victory we are looking for. We must keep pounding companies like this.

A) 99m into a "fund" is pathetic peanuts for these billionaires. It is a rounding error on the money this abusive crap earns them world wide.

B) The good behavior ends in 10 years and is limited scope

C) It has no effect on their monopoly status, bolstering sales actually.

D) They walk away with "no wrong doing" on the court record.

It resembles a bribe to the plaintiffs to STFU. 🤔

Michael Vilain 4h ago

@kottke I can't imagine a multi-national company loosing a fight like this and throwing in the towel. I wonder what leverage the tractor owners used to get Deere to give up the fight.

@kottke Maybe farmers should stop voting for the conservatives who keep allowing companies to do whatever they want. Imagine not having to sue in the first place, only to get back "somewhere between 26% and 53% of overcharge damages".

PeachMcD 3h ago

@kottke
Great news!

This is hugely important. Their model was the oligarchs' fever dream.

@kottke 10 years is absolutly nothing, but at least is an start!

Todd Miller 39m ago

Aurora 🐌27m ago

@kottke Good news!