Today, the United States The Federal Trade Commission filed a lawsuit against agricultural equipment maker Deere & Co., maker of John Deere's iconic green tractors, harvesters and lawn mowers, citing the company's longstanding reluctance to prevent customers from repairing their own machines.
“Farmers rely on farm equipment to make a living and support their families,” FTC Chairwoman Lena Khan wrote in a statement that included the full complaint. “Unfair restoration restrictions could mean farmers face unnecessary delays during tight planting and harvest windows.”
The FTC's main complaints focus on software issues. Deere has placed restrictions on its operating software, meaning certain functions and calibrations on the tractor can only be unlocked by mechanics with the correct digital key. Deere only licenses these keys to its authorized dealers, which means farmers often can't take the tractor to a more convenient third-party mechanic or fix the problem themselves. The lawsuit asks John Deere to stop its practice of limiting which repair features are available to customers and make them available to people other than official dealers.
Kyle Wiens, CEO of repair advocacy retailer iFixit and a occasional contributor to Wired, first wrote about John Deere's repair-denial strategy in 2015 article. In an interview today, he pointed out how frustrating it can be for farmers when they try to fix something that's broken, only to be met with Deere's policies.
"When you have a thing that doesn't work, it's not a big deal if you're 10 minutes away from the store," Vines said. "For farmers in most parts of the country, if the store is only three hours away, that's a big problem."
Another difficulty is that U.S. copyright protections prevent anyone but John Deere from making software that counteracts the restrictions the company imposes on its platform. Section 1201 of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 provides that people cannot legally resist technological measures protected by it. John Deere equipment is covered by this copyright policy.
"Not only are they anti-competitive, it's actually illegal to compete with them," Wiens said.
Despite a decade-long boycott of John Deere by farmers and repairability advocates, customers who use the company's machines haven't seen much benefit from all the rhetoric, Wiens said.
“Things are really not getting better for farmers,” Vines said. “Despite years of debate over the right to repair, nothing substantial has changed for local farmers.”
He believes the lawsuit against Deere will be different.
"That must be what it does," Vines said. "The FTC will not reach a settlement until John Deere provides the software. This is a step in the right direction."
Deere's reluctance to make its products more accessible has angered many customers and even garnered widespread bipartisan support for repairability in agriculture in Congress. The FTC alleges that John Deere also violated legislation passed by the Colorado government in 2023 that requires farm equipment sold in the state to provide operating software to users.
“Deere’s illegal business practices drive up farmers’ repair costs and reduce farmers’ ability to obtain timely repairs,” the lawsuit states.
Deere did not respond to a request for comment for this story.
Nathan Proctor, senior director of the American PIRG advocacy group Right to Repair Campaign, wrote a statement praising the FTC's decision. He believes that whatever the outcome, the case will be a positive step in the wider movement for rights restoration.
"I think this discovery process will paint a picture that clearly shows their equipment was programmed to monopolize certain repair functions," Proctor told Wired. "I expect Deere will either fix the problem or pay The cost. I don't know how long it will take, but it's a very important milestone because once the genie is out of the bottle, it can't be put back."