$500,000.00 fine and/or 5 years in federal prison for a first offense. John Deere

[ruffdog]

Swines...good explanation above^^^^.

Just as auto manufactures have done about the software.

 

[ruffdog]

If you step back and look at the big picture no one owns property, as in land. As long as there are property taxes you will be paying rent for ever, and the moment you stop paying property taxes the government will confiscate the land that they are renting to you. So You really don't own the land.

True...we basicly just rent the land because if we stop paying, it goes to the State.

 

[TheMan419]

Is Deere just doing this with the big AG stuff or is there enough software on the CUTs and SCUTs that this is an issue as well? I did not buy green because of the cost. However, I would not buy green because of this issue for sure!

 

[OkieDave]

The upshot is that they're doing great things for the value of older used equipment!

 

[Industrial Toys]

A sudden wave of relief just passed over me, knowing I don't really own anything. Now, who do I talk to about maintaining all that stuff around me?

 

[RaydaKub]

The part I take exception with is using copyright law to force people to buy replacement parts/services/etc from the dealer. I think that is just plain deceitful. why buy a tractor from a company that publicly announces it is going to play mean with it's customers?

using software law to impose another layer of expense on it's customers, and claim it has nothing to do with profit, is just not right.

IBM fought and lost that battle back in the 70's. They had publish every bit of information necessary to fix the machine by anybody else. They then built in shortcuts to do it better and faster, but all the info was there to be had.

This seems to be a very similar situation.

 

[adventure bob]

This is going to end up like windows, apple and other operating systems. You don't have to run windows or IOS, but it sure makes a lot of things much easier. Plug and play, configuration, updates ect... If this is truly such a huge deal, someone is going to come up with an open source answer to the problem; Linux for tractors if you will. When that happens you'll have 100% full access and ownership. What you'll give up is support and ease of use from a company that has put billions into R&D to make the software work. We have the same thing in the auto industry; Megasquirt and several others give you 100% access and control of the software, however when you switch you are on your own. Theres numerous user groups for MS users, but theres a ton of stories about the guy who switched and now he cant get his project running. MHO is the convenience and efficiency that everyone wants wont come from open source. There's a cost to that and its ownership and access.

 

[Gator6x4]

You can pay a John Deere dealer to take a tractor home, but John Deere refuses to acknowledge that tractor belongs to you.

this is so bizarre I really don't know where to post it.

how about a poll to see just what farmers think of this?

John Deere just told the copyright office that only corporations can own property, humans can only license it / Boing Boing

Books you alluded to are intellectual property. Computer software is also intellectual property. No one has a right to change anything written by the author of a book or modify or change computer software, which was designed to safety operate the equipment it was designed for. Modifying or changing Computer software that operates machinery is something that could kill a person. Survivors of the deceased will then sue the manafracture not the idiot that did the modification or a user will after modifying software sue the manafacture alleging the equipment purchased was defective when the equipment self destructs.

The simple answer is to have those that want to modify or change the computer software in equipment sign a nortarized statement to the effect if his/her tampering with the software that operates the equipment causes damage to the equipment, injury or death ever piece that is left when it self destructs and any injury or death is the fruits of his/her labor and their sole responsibility.

 

[Oldoak]

If you step back and look at the big picture no one owns property, as in land. As long as there are property taxes you will be paying rent for ever, and the moment you stop paying property taxes the government will confiscate the land that they are renting to you. So You really don't own the land.

I have been saying that for years. Ever since my taxes increased to more than what my mortgage payments were. And every year my (mortgage payment to our county and school district) keep increasing while the quality of our education system and county services keep decreasing.

 

[PILOON]

Sounds as bad as Monsanto suing you if you use last years corn to sow this years crop.