It's about time.*
From Reuters, January 8:
The American Farm Bureau Federation and machinery manufacturer Deere & Co signed a memorandum of understanding on Sunday that ensures farmers have the right to repair their own farm equipment or go to an independent technician.
As the agriculture sector accelerates its adoption of technology, the reliance on high-tech machinery such as GPS-guided combines and tractors has become more common-place.
But equipment makers such as Deere have generally required customers to use their parts and service divisions for repairs and until recently, only allowed authorized dealers the means and tools to access the complex computerized systems of their tractors and other machinery....*****.... The MOU aims to find a solution to the "right to repair" debate in the private sector, rather than through legislation or regulation, according to the document. It benefits farmers and independent repair facilities in the United States and Puerto Rico, for the "lawful operation and upkeep of Agricultural Equipment," the MOU states.....
AFBF Signs Right to Repair Memorandum of Understanding with John Deere
And the Memorandum of Understanding (6 page PDF)
*We've been following the specific and wider questions (looking at you Apple) of this issue for a long time:
November 2016
For the Next Two Years Auto Manufacturers Can't Have You Arrested...
...for trying to repair or modify the software on your own car.
"The Right to Repair Battle Has Come to Silicon Valley"
You didn't thinks all those posts on John Deere and "Kirtsaeng v. John Wiley & Sons, Inc." were simply about tractors and textbooks did you? I mean, sure they were, but they were also about whether you own the stuff you buy and if the Supreme Court would uphold the First Sale Doctrine.
Oct. 2018
A Major Win For the Right to Repair Your Own Stuff (AAPL; DE)
We've chronicled how manufacturers, most egregiously John Deere of all people, have been inserting clauses into purchase agreements that basically state, errrmmm, that you didn't actually purchase anything more than a service.
The U.S. copyright office would beg to differ with the manufacturers on one weapon they've been using....
What started as a single observation has become a series, this manufacturer's claim that when you buy their product you've actually just entered into some sort of neo-feudal lease arrangement, some links below....
April 2019
"U.S. Farmers Are Being Bled by the Tractor Monopoly" (DE)
This is a major story and not just for farmers and people who eat food....
May 2019
"Apple Is Telling Lawmakers People Will Hurt Themselves if They Try to Fix iPhones" (AAPL)
July 2019
Pearson, Biggest Textbook Publisher, Pushing Students To Ebooks You Can't Resell (PSON.L)
Combining a couple threads from days gone by. Do you, or don't you, own what you've paid for?
And one of the best market calls ever. ...
June 8, 2021
"Microsoft and Apple Wage War on Gadget Right-to-Repair Laws"
President Biden Sides With Farmers Over "Right to Repair", Deere Responds (DE; AAPL; MSFT)
