Farmers Demand Right to Fix Their Own Dang Tractors
Found on Modern Farmer on Tuesday, 19 July 2016
In a 2015 letter to the United States Copyright Office, John Deere, the world’s largest tractor maker, said that the folks who buy tractors don’t own them, not in the way the general public believes “ownership” works. Instead, John Deere said that those who buy tractors are actually purchasing an “implied license for the life of the vehicle to operate the vehicle.”
Not everyone is on the farmers’ side here; some, according to the Associated Press, are concerned that the move would reduce revenue to tractor manufacturers, potentially landing them in trouble.
Maybe Deere's business model is a bit flawed when it has to rely on the DMCA for survival. The solution is left to the customers however: don't buy anything from John Deere, but from a company who lets you actually own the product you paid for.