DEERE IN THE HEADLIGHTS

But now, equipment manufacturers refuse to give farmers all of the tools that they need to fix their stuff—especially the software tools to install replacement electronics— leading to delays of hours to weeks while the farmer waits for the dealership to make the repair. [...] But in 2015, the Library of Congress Copyright Office adopted 11 the following exemption to section 1201 of the DMCA to allow farmers to circumvent agricultural equipment manufacturers’ digital locks for the purposes of repair and modification: Computer programs that are contained in and control the functioning of a motorized land vehicle such as a … mechanized agricultural vehicle, except for com. [...] Opponents of Right to Repair reforms, such as the Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM) and the Equipment Dealers Association (EDA), argue that the policy is an attempt to force manufacturers to turn over intellectual property in the form of source code.59 They also claim that advocates seek to, “gain unfettered access to the embedded code in agriculture equipment, which could be dangerous. [...] The Repair Association, a trade organization consisting of repair technicians from a range of fields and a leader in the Right to Repair movement, has model legislation62 on which many of the different state bills are based.63 ACCESS TO EMBEDDED CODE WILL NOT ENABLE THEFT OF SOURCE CODE The template Right to Repair bill makes no mention of source code, but does call for the manufacturer to make av. [...] This prompts an error message to be delivered to the equipment operator, activates the immobilizer and puts the machine into limp mode.79 Certain software is then needed as a “key” to the digital lock so that the farmer can diagnose the exact issue, approve replacement parts as necessary and then indicate that the repair has been completed.