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Farmers Finally Get a John Deere Right to Repair Agreement That Doesn’t Screw Them Over (www.404media.co)
submitted 4 months ago by [B] to c/pulse_of_truth@infosec.pub
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The FTC's settlement with John Deere actually has teeth, unlike previous settlements that largely maintained the status quo.

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[–] 7 points 4 months ago (2 children)

So did a quick skim of the terms of the settlement; I see a loophole.

The repair tools need to be sold to independent repair facilities only after said tools are available to 50% of their repair shops.

If they develop 3+ "core platforms" (thinking in terms of cars, imagine an OBD-3 system with similar though not compatible A, B, and C variants) and then distribute regionally (e.g. all gear sold on east coast gets A variant, Midwest gets B variant, etc), then it wouldn't be necessary for Deere repair shops to achieve 50% distribution of a specific scan tool.

I HIGHLY doubt they'd go to those lengths to side step this settlement and I doubt the courts would look favorably on that kind of maneuver....but if I was a corporate blood sucking lawyer type, I'd be looking at how feasible that's be.

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  • [–] 3 points 4 months ago (1 child)

    I have another comment in this thread, but their tractors have a single data port, and I'm pretty sure it's been the same one for like 20+ years, and universal across all their equipment across the globe.

    Its also not unique to Deere, it's the same thing used on large Diesel semi-trucks, like Cummins engines.

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  • [–] 2 points 4 months ago

    Yeah, Idk shit about their tractors, the above was total speculation.

    But it sounds like you're take is that the rules of the settlement are pretty ironclad and it'd be difficult for Deere to try to skirt the settlement?

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