A Massive Repair Lawsuit Against John Deere Clears a Major Hurdle

Jason Koebler reports via 404 Media: A judge rejected John Deere's motion to dismiss a landmark class action lawsuit over the agricultural giant's repair monopolies, paving the way for a trial that will determine whether the company's repair practices are illegal. The case will specifically examine whether Deere has engaged in a "conspiracy" in which Deere and its dealerships have driven up the cost of repair while preventing independent and self-repair of tractors that farmers own.

In a forceful, 89-page memorandum, U.S. District Court Judge Iain Johnson wrote that the founder of John Deere "was an innovative farmer and blacksmith who -- with his own hands -- fundamentally changed the agricultural industry." Deere the man "would be deeply disappointed in his namesake corporation" if the plaintiffs can ultimately prove their antitrust allegations against Deere the company, which are voluminous and well-documented. Reuters first reported on Johnson's memo.

At issue are the many tactics Deere has used to make it more difficult and often impossible for farmers to repair their own tractors, from software locks and "parts pairing" that prevent farmers from replacing parts without the authorization of a Deere dealership. "Only Deere and Dealer authorized technicians have access to the Repair Tools, and Deere withholds these resources from farmers and independent repair shops," Johnson wrote.

My grandfather was a farmer

[RitchCraft]

My grandfather was a farmer that repaired his own equipment right up until he passed away 15 years ago. It was amazing to watch him break a tractor into two pieces in his workshop and repair it. He would be appalled at what Deere has done to farmers. I'm happy he left before having to witness this travesty on farmers.

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[GrahamJ]

Oh Deere

Re:

[arglebargle_xiv]

It was amazing to watch him break a tractor into two pieces in his workshop

Holy fsck, was your grandfather Superman or something?

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[RitchCraft]

LOL, no, most trackers, like the big ass Massey Ferguson and Olivers he had, had the ability to be separated between the engine and transmission creating two giant tractor halves.

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[bobby]

I'm pretty hands-on with pretty much everything. I'll buy and refurbish an older car / truck / tractor before I'd buy something new and unrepairable. I'd be willing to bet that your grandfather would never had bought a "newfangled" software-controlled machine if he could help it.

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[RitchCraft]

You are correct. The newest piece of machinery he purchased I believe was a New Holland combine back around 1995. I'm not sure if that combine was new or used but I do remember it having a radio, air conditioning, etc.. that was miles ahead of his previous combine, which I believe was an International Harvester. My favorite tractor on the farm was this little Ford 8N from the early 1950s I think. That little four cylinder beast never failed to start, even during those cold winters in the 1970's and 1980's h

This confuses me.

[olsmeister]

Why do farmers continue to buy tractors they know they cannot work on? Simply buy a different brand. Or, is John Deere that much of a monopoly?

Re: This confuses me.

[ThumpBzztZoom]

All the brands do it now, Deere is the largest and I believe the first.

Re:

[wyHunter]

Yes, and I hope they lose their lawsuit. The farmers and ranchers I know are 2-3 days away from a repair guy and can't afford to pay someone to fly out anyway. It's why they're all spending big bucks on tractors from the 1940s and 1950s because they are simple and easy to repair. It's really a bizarre time in history - though I suppose they all are. There's the promise of new capabilities in machinery and it's not hugely useful because of things like this.

Re:This confuses me.

[_merlin]

John Deere is close to a monopoly in the US for some reason, with Case IH in second place. As a result, they have the best sales channels and the best service network. You'd have a harder time getting parts for other brands. The situation isn't the same in the rest of the world. For example, in Australia, Massey Ferguson and New Holland are the most popular brands, and Mahindra is entrenched in India.

But never under-estimate the value of a good service network. Caterpillar is the most popular brand of earthmoving equipment in the mines of Western Australia because they have the best service network. There are often better products from Komatsu and others, but without the service network to back it up, it isn't worth it.

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[wyHunter]

I believe Mahindra is pretty popular here among people who have farmettes - you know, 10 acres and a horse, where it's really just an exurban or rural house with some land used for some ag (mostly for tax purposes). A former coworker of mine bought a Mahindra because it wasn't in the many 10s of thousands, though this was years ago. I have no idea what the parts availability is though.

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[Calydor]

For the same reason PC gamers stick with Windows. There is no realistic alternative.

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[Firethorn]

I figure that it's a "they don't realize it until they're burned", type deal. But I have heard that Deere is losing sales at a good clip as word gets around.

You generally don't buy a new tractor every year, there's a lot of tractors from the '50s still around.

And this is the pushback we're seeing, because farmers do have resources , including the ears of politicians.

And then some

[sjames]

It sounds like the judge didn't just deny the motion to dismiss, he warned them as strongly as he could without saying it directly, he expects them to lose big if they don't settle.

Re:And then some

[geekmux]

It sounds like the judge didn't just deny the motion to dismiss, he warned them as strongly as he could without saying it directly, he expects them to lose big if they don't settle.

And yet Greed within Deere treats that warning as a joke, already knowing that whatever penalty that comes their way will pale in comparison to the profits they've made from their corrupt activity. I have yet to see any settlement actually be anything more than a calculated expense if litigation ever occurs.

Deterrent my ass.

"Do you have your sensor calibration license?"

[sinkskinkshrieks]

John Deere is an authorized repair jobs program like Taylor's McFlurry machines. Make fragile machines prone to frequent breakdowns that only a limited number of repair techs can fix with proprietary parts and proprietary software. So when a John Deere tractor breaks down during harvest season, a farmer will have a Hobson choice to pay the extortioners' fees while other farmers have to wait for a repair tech and let their crops go to waste.

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[freeze128]

But John Deere got it's reputation for being well-constructed durable agricultural machines.It might have been more expensive than the competitors at the time, but the quality and reliability was worth it. These aren't cheap Chinese playthings.
They just got greedy.

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[Vidar Leathershod]

It may have had a reputation, but it wasn't well deserved. The only really decent tractor they made was the 4020. Oh, sure, they had some interesting designs, but they weren't reliable when compared with Allis-Chalmers, Oliver, Minneapolis-Moline, or Farmall/International Harvester. However, they spent a lot more money on marketing, like the ubiquitous green hats. Even today, at the antique pulls (usually pre-1960), they usually rank in the bottom of pullers. Mechanically they are prone to failures, and rep

A tragedy

[Stoutlimb]

I've been saying this since Slashdot was new. It's a tragedy how slowly technology lawsuits wind their way through the courts. The industry goes through so many generations in the mean time that verdicts become largely irrelevant and ineffectual.

Considering how much we rely on technology, I think it's fair to say our civilization is fundamentally broken.

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[wyHunter]

I've been in high tech for more than 35 years. As my life goes on I'm trying to make my person life more and more LOW tech...because I agree, our civilization is fundamentally broken.

For the entire history...

[MpVpRb]

..of things made by people, they have ALWAYS been repairable, subject only to the skill of the repair worker and degree of damage
Using tech to take away a right we have had for thousands of years is FUKKIN' EVIL!
We're not asking for new rights, we are DEMANDING the rights we have had since the beginning

Pick one: Repairability or Security

[EMB Numbers]

- If you do not know what software you are running, you have no security.
- If you do not have cryptographic signatures, you don't know what software you are running.
- If you rely on fingerprint sensors or Face ID for security, you better hope hardware is "paired" via cryptographic signing or else security is circumvented just by replacing the sensor with one that issues false positives or locks you out of your own devices.
- If you don't have cryptographic signatures, someone can plant data on your device in

Re:

[Anonymous Coward]

It's a tractor, not a nuclear launch facility.

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[wyHunter]

Unfortunately it's probably chock full of computers, too.

Re: Pick one: Repairability or Security

[SleepingEye]

If you have physical access to the device you can decap the chips and access whatever data you need directly, secure processor or otherwise

Nothing would make me happier...

[drew_92123]

...than to see John Deere found guilty on all charges, fines an epic record breaking amount, and forced to unlock all their shit and give folks access to the tools and documentation needed to repair all those big green machines.

But........ I seriously doubt it will happen.

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[freeze128]

What if that epic fine put JD out of business? Then the next biggest competitor could start putting in repair-inhibiting features, and then we would have to start this whole process over.

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[Voyager529]

What if that epic fine put JD out of business?

John Deere's market cap is over $100 billion. A $10 billion fine, payable over five years, during which they cannot do any layoffs, or increase prices no more than five percent, and during which no employee may receive a bonus of any kind, wouldn't put them out of business, but boy would it hurt.

Alternatively, they could make the lawsuit for a lesser amount of money, but also say that for the next ten years, the courts will not uphold any DMCA or copyright claim from John Deere to anyone (except maybe compe

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[geekmux]

What if that epic fine put JD out of business?

John Deere's market cap is over $100 billion. A $10 billion fine, payable over five years, during which they cannot do any layoffs, or increase prices no more than five percent, and during which no employee may receive a bonus of any kind, wouldn't put them out of business, but boy would it hurt.

A $10 billion dollar penalty written off over multiple years, vs. HOW MUCH did they make from this corrupt activity?

It's not going to hurt even a little bit. Greed at Deere calculated that potential risk and loss when they engaged in this greedy behavior in the first place. Rest assured it won't even make a dent in a $100 billion dollar company. Just like settlements of this kind everywhere else. Greed lobbies to ensure these "penalties" are little more than slaps on the wrist for a reason; because it's

How I'd REALLY make it hurt

[Firethorn]

Personally, I'd take a different tact than a fine. I'd make it very simple:

Any part you "protect" with DRM you agree to fix for free, so long as the machine is still vaguely operable. You're not allowed to charge for it, and you're required to fix it in the same timelines as for other stuff. IE the farmer says it needs to be fixed in 24 hours, you better get cracking.

Bam, the profit from locking things behind DRM is gone. You'd see it disappear so fast...

Just let us off the leash

[Opportunist]

Allow us to break their DRM and the whole shit clears up pretty fucking quickly.

Re: Just let us off the leash

[dpille]

Sure. As long as the bankers carrying the $500k note don't care who fixes it.

I say it's time to send John Deere a 'Dear John.'

[Joe_Dragon]

I say it's time to send John Deere a 'Dear John.'

Open Source Tractor

[Spinlock_1977]

Were I a younger man, schooled in the ways of machinery, I might make a name for myself by starting an open source tractor project.

Re:

[wyHunter]

Agreed. I'd also like an open source washing machine project - you know, a machine that is water efficient and actually gets my clothes clean, like my front loader from 1996. That was a high water mark (pun intended) for low water use and high cleaning ability of clothes, everything else since then has been downhill. ("Our products are engineered for 20 year lifespans." Well maybe the products but not the crap motherboards that keep dying.)

Time to part ways...

[uncoveror]

Farmers should send John Deere a Dear John.