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Elizabeth Warren Calls For a National Right-to-Repair Law for Tractors (vice.com)
Massachusetts Senator and Democratic Presidential hopeful Elizabeth Warren has become the highest profile politician to support right to repair legislation in the United States. From a report: On Wednesday, Warren outlined a sweeping plan to support family farms and diminish the power of corporate agriculture. At the top of the list, she supports a national right-to-repair law for tractors and other agricultural equipment. That means she supports the simple idea that people who own a tractor should be able to repair it without permission from John Deere or any other manufacturer. "Farmers should be able to repair their own equipment or choose between multiple repair shops," Warren said in a Medium post outlining her proposal. "That's why I strongly support a national right-to-repair law that empowers farmers to repair their equipment without going to an authorized agent." For now, Warren's proposal would apply only to farm equipment, not consumer electronics.
[...] Farmers operating John Deere tractors have been fighting against John Deere's repair monopoly for years. Device manufacturers don't want people repairing their own stuff and they've taken pains to make it difficult to do so. Newer John Deere equipment comes loaded with software and firmware that make it impossible for farmers to fix their own equipment. Instead, they have to call an authorized dealer and wait for them to show up -- a fix that's too slow and too costly for a farmer. "The national right-to-repair law should require manufacturers of farm equipment to make diagnostic tools, manuals, and other repair-related resources available to any individual or business, not just their own dealerships and authorized agents," Warren said. "This will not only allow individuals to fix their own equipment -- reducing delays -- but it will also create competition among dealers and independent repair shops, bringing down prices overall." Further reading: Grandson of Legendary John Deere Inventor Calls Out Company On Right To Repair.
[...] Farmers operating John Deere tractors have been fighting against John Deere's repair monopoly for years. Device manufacturers don't want people repairing their own stuff and they've taken pains to make it difficult to do so. Newer John Deere equipment comes loaded with software and firmware that make it impossible for farmers to fix their own equipment. Instead, they have to call an authorized dealer and wait for them to show up -- a fix that's too slow and too costly for a farmer. "The national right-to-repair law should require manufacturers of farm equipment to make diagnostic tools, manuals, and other repair-related resources available to any individual or business, not just their own dealerships and authorized agents," Warren said. "This will not only allow individuals to fix their own equipment -- reducing delays -- but it will also create competition among dealers and independent repair shops, bringing down prices overall." Further reading: Grandson of Legendary John Deere Inventor Calls Out Company On Right To Repair.
Darn it!
Now this very practical bit of needed legislation will become politicized. Republicans will oppose it as a knee jerk reaction and Trump will create an agency or executive order banning all aftermarket repairs.
This is not an anti Republican post. Both sides do this with every thing. As an independent I'm thoroughly sick of it.
Forget tractors!
There needs to be a right to repair Politicians!
Because politics: Warren is generally weak amongst farmers and needs to signal to them specifically.
You are welcome on my lawn.
Not even red states, this is targeted strictly at Iowa, and PR stunts like this aren't restricted to any one party or candidate. It's fairly insane that Iowa and NH have such outsized influences in the American political process.
Polls of Iowa voters show Warren beating Donald Trump in a head-to-head election. Let me repeat: IOWA voters.
On the other hand, Iowa Democratic voters put her 4th or 5th among other Democrats. It appears Iowa really doesn't want the Republican incumbent to win again. The trade war has hurt a lot of them, badly.
You are welcome on my lawn.
Why doesn't she put forth legislation to that effect? If she waits till elected President, she'll have to convince someone in either chamber of Congress to put the bill forward.
She's not helpless, she needs to step up.
Ken
If there was an obligation to make that material easily (though not necessarily freely) available, I think that's all we'd need.
Right-to-repair laws include exactly this. I would like to see it universal rather than only applicable to tractors.
In general, RTR laws include three provisions: availability of documentation, availability of parts (to anyone, not just vendor shops), and a rule against "lock out".
In this particular case, John Deere is well known for firmware lockouts that prevent new parts from working until they are authorized.
And don't let the corps BS you on this one either: US warranty laws ALREADY allow them to void warranties due to improper modifications. They are already protected from bad workmanship, and the issue is 100% distraction.
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According to the latest ruleset, this post should be modded as Vorpal Flamebait +5.
Wrong, it needs one more thing. It needs to be legalized.
It's currently illegal to repair things that you own, if the manufacturer uses a technological measure to limit access (i.e. DRM). Until we repeal DMCA, a lot of everyone's common sense will remain legally incorrect. It's a corrupt law, purely motivated by corruption and nothing else.
I'd ask Warren, though, why tractors are a special case.
"Believe me!" -- Donald Trump
He brought the Green New Deal up for a vote.... and the vote to limit the national emergency powers of the President.
Instead, just make it so if a company requires repairs be done through themselves or their authorized dealer chain, then the repairs are free. i.e. If the company wants to insist on exclusivity of repairs for 10 years, then their product basically has to have a 10 year warranty. If they want to insist on exclusivity forever, then the product is warranted forever.
The advantage is that a right to repair law can be challenged on the grounds that it's violating the manufacturer's right to offer its products for sale in whatever fashion it sees fit. If you do it my way, companies can still do what John Deere does with tractors, or Epson does with chipped printer cartridges, or Apple does with iPhones. But if they elect to do it that way, then the purchase essentially becomes a lease - the lessee gets use of the product, but the lessor is responsible for the maintenance and repair costs (not always obvious, but if your leased car breaks down and is too expensive to repair, you can just walk away from the lease and leave the car company to eat the loss on their broken product, not you). And the legal framework for leases is very well established so is unlikely to be overturned by a court challenge.
Basically, don't set up a confrontation between the buyer's right to repair and the seller's right to design a product as they see fit. Instead, channel products which come without restrictions on the owner into purchases, while products where the manufacturer retains control over after possession is transferred to the "buyer" become leases.
Plenty of the parts have DRM on the firmware that prevents them from working in the tractor until an approved person unlocks it. So you can install the new parts all you want, but they won't work until John Deere sends someone out to activate the new parts.
-- ssoorrrryy,, dduupplleexx sswwiittcchh oonn.. -Quote found on actual fortune cookie.
They all 'get it'. They just don't care. Sometimes a few decide to pretend to care thinking it will get them votes. Then when it's time to pay the piper, they reneg.
they have to call an authorized dealer and wait for them to show up -- a fix that's too slow and too costly for a farmer.
Why do they insist on buying John Deere tractors then? Isn't this where the invisible hand of the free market makes consumers prefer tractors that CAN be repaired on site by anyone, and where John Deere goes out of business because it can't sell tractors any more? I'm sure Ford or Massey or Tracto Universal or any of a hundred other tractor manufacturers wouldn't mind the extra business. There's something fishy here if a law is required.
Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
Farmer Bill: Hey, John Deere, my tractor broke down. I need it fixed ASAP as the window for planting in Spring 2019 is closing.
John Deere: Sure, Bill, no problem. We'll get your tractor fixed at no charge - in time for the 2020 planting season.
Farmer Bill: I can't wait that long! If I can't plant my crop in time I'll lose my farm.
John Deere: We're happy to help. If you fork over $25,000 we'll get it fixed by Easter. $65,000 for expedited service if you want it by the weekend. Have a nice day!
Nobody is trying to change the Constitution. Instead, States are passing laws that say that once enough States pass the same law so that it adds up to enough electoral votes to win the election, then the law goes into effect and those States agree to assign all their electoral votes to the winner of the national popular vote.
Simple, easy, no Amendment needed. This is coming. Probably not this cycle. But it is coming.