Last year, the regulator sued the popular green tractor company.
The debate over the right to repair does not only apply to electronics. Today, the United States Federal Trade Commission announced that it, along with five states, had reached a settlement with Deere & Company, the maker of John Deere agricultural equipment. The regulator sued Deere last year over allegations the company engaged in unfair practices that limited farmers’ ability to repair their own equipment. These policies forced equipment owners and independent repairers to pay higher prices for any necessary services.
Under the terms of the agreement, over the next 10 years, Deere will “provide farmers and independent repairers with the same equipment repair resources, including applicable software capabilities, that it currently provides to authorized Deere dealers.” The company will also be subject to reporting and monitoring requirements, and the initial ten-year agreement could be extended if conditions are broken.
Nathan Proctor, senior director of the US PIRG Right to Repair Campaign, released a statement on the outcome. “We should be able to repair ourselves. This FTC agreement gives farmers more and better options for repairing their equipment. It’s a victory for farmers and for all of us who want a more repairable world,” he said. “From the beginning of our campaign, our goal was to ensure that farmers and independent mechanics get everything they need to repair equipment. We will continue to monitor the situation and advocate for this goal to become a reality.
In light of the skyrocketing costs of building new technologies, and whose prices are unlikely to come down anytime soon, the vision of a more repairable world certainly seems like a good vision.
