While the right-to-repair movement has been focusing heavily on automobiles in recent years, John Deere has remained the arch enemy. As one of the first businesses to leverage software and specialized diagnostic equipment to prevent owners from servicing their own equipment, it has been targeted by a slew of lawsuits and was even placed under investigation by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). This means that John Deere serves as an indicator of what types of legislation and court decisions automakers may encounter if they stay on the same path. As a major manufacturer of agricultural equipment, Deere implemented firmware that required specialized diagnostic tools that were exclusively possessed by certified dealerships. Customers were almost universally outraged by the decision, noting that it resulted in excessive downtime as they waited for repairs. The issue became so severe that many farmers couldn’t even harvest or grow their crops because they were forced to wait for technicians using specialized diagnostic gear …
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Author: Matt Posky
