The FTC isn’t Going to Shut Down John Deere Unless He Can Fix It, But He’s Aware of It

Deere & Company representatives did not respond to NPR’s request on Wednesday. Earlier this week, the company had said it was expanding options for farmers to repair equipment themselves in a pilot program.

The agency wrote that there was no real confidence in the FTC’s ultimate chances of success in litigation, and they were also negotiating a settlement with Deere.

In their dissent, Commissioner Ferguson and Commissioner Holyoak wrote that they welcomed the FTC taking up the cause of the farmer and made procedural arguments against the lawsuit. The smell of partisan motivation stems from the timing, right before Trump’s inauguration.

The lawsuit accuses Deere of withholding access to its technology and best repair tools and of maintaining monopoly power over many repairs. Deere also reaps additional profits from selling parts, the complaint alleges, as authorized dealers tend to sell pricey Deere-branded parts for their repairs rather than generic alternatives.

“When you have a thing that doesn’t work, if you’re 10 minutes from the store, it’s not a big deal,” Wiens says. It is a big problem for farmers if the store is three hours away.

A long-standing battle over farmers’ right to repair their own equipment and parts has been furtherflamed by a lawsuit filed by the Federal Trade Commission.

John Deere’s platform restricts software made by anyone other than the company, meaning that no one but John Deere can make software that counteracts the restrictions. Section 1201 of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 makes it illegal for people to counteract technological innovations that are protected. The equipment of John Deere is covered by the policy.

“This has to be the thing that does it,” Wiens says. “The FTC is not going to settle until John Deere makes the software available. This is a positive step in the right direction.

Kyle Wiens is the CEO of the repair advocate iFixit and a WIRED contributor who wrote about John Deere’s repair-averse tactics in 2015. In an interview today, he noted how frustrated farmers get when they try to fix something that has gone wrong, only to run into Deere’s policy.