States Consider Who Can Dig Into Digital Equipment Repair
The “peek under the hood” approach to farm machine repair is a concept assigned to history. What used to be the hood is now software, and peeking under it is a violation of the federal Digital Millennium Copyright Act.
Four state legislatures have taken steps to give farmers options for equipment repair. Nebraska, Massachusetts, Minnesota and New York are considering legislation that would require manufacturers to make diagnostic, service and technical information available to farmers and independent repair technicians.
While the Nebraska Fair Repair Bill failed to gain traction this spring, the issue is far from dead. It has been referred to the Agriculture Committee for study, and advocates want the bill reintroduced next session.
John Deere, in a 2014 comment to the U.S. Copyright Office, said the people who buy its tractors don’t own the software that makes them run. Instead, each has an “implied license for the life of the vehicle to operate the vehicle.”
But farmers work when they can, and every hour matters when storms, frost and mud leave them with few suitable days. A malfunctioning combine can bring the fall harvest to a standstill. Waiting for a dealer to diagnose and fix a problem could cost days.
Proponents of Nebraska’s bill say it would let farmers work on their own equipment and allow independent mechanics to help get machines running.
The Nebraska Farm Bureau, the state’s largest agriculture advocacy group, has not taken a stance on the issue but its members are talking about it, said Jordan Dux, the state Farm Bureau’s director of national affairs.
Some members, Dux said, are concerned about taking business away from dealerships at a time when the ag economy has slowed.
“Keeping those dealerships in their communities is important,” he said. “Repairs are going to be the way a lot of these dealerships are going to make money for the time being simply because folks aren’t buying a lot of new equipment.”
Source: Lincoln Journal Star