DOJ plows ahead: supporting farmers in Deere anti-trust lawsuit - Week in Repair
DOJ supports farmers' lawsuit against Deere's monopoly on equipment repair. Plus: serious consequences for clothing waste, highlighting the importance of clothing repair.
Farmers in Wyoming have been on the hunt for old tractors. Not because they’re hipsters, but because of all the problems that have come about from more software reliant machines, not to mention spare parts can oftentimes be more easily available.
There are countless other cases – Jim Gerritsen, a tomato farmer from Maine who spoke to Congress this past year during right to repair hearings, runs his farm on 1970s equipment to ensure he can always fix his equipment. Some farmers are even exploring the idea of open-source tractor software.
The motivations of these farmers often comes from the fact that tractors can be shut down remotely or brought down at a moment’s notice by an error code that farmers might not have the ability to fix, given they are not allowed to bypass software locks on these machines. Not to mention that costs of maintinence and repairs can be exorbitant when companies own all the repair shops in rural communities.
DOJ urges court to allow anti-trust case to move forward
Other farmers across the country had a different idea than buying old machines and using open-source software – they sued John Deere. Thirteen separate cases against Deere have been consolidated into a single case, which is now under the jurisdiction of a federal court in Illinois.
Large corporations are especially adept at slowing or stopping cases like these from moving forward – look no further than Massachussets where a referendum voted overwhelmingly by voters has been tied up in court for two years by a federal lawsuit filed by automakers.
This is why this week the US Department of Justice (DOJ) urged the Illinois court not to dismiss antitrust litigation against Deere. They are claiming that Deere is attempting to monopolize the repair of its products by:
Monopolizing the market for repair (if the only repair shop within 50-miles of you is a Deere dealer, chances are you’ll be paying whatever price they say)
Monopolizing maintenance services
Designing equipment to require company-controlled software for the diagnosis of problems and for maintenance functions.
It’s clear that the Federal Government under the Biden administration is taking a strong stance on anti-trust enforcement, with repair restrictions and service monopolies being strongly related to their agenda.
This gesture by the DOJ also comes at a time where lawmakers in Colorado (and 10 other states) have introduced bills that would force manufacturers to provide tools, software, parts, and manuals necessary for farmers to make their own repairs to avoid steep labor costs and delays that imperil profits. Proponents of legislation aren’t waiting around for the case to solve the problem. They want laws put in place immediately to avoid the problems they face.
But a law only goes so far until it is enforced by regulators or courts. If this lawsuit moves forward in favor of the farmers suing Deere, it will send a clear message to companies that there are consequences for restricting repair.
Other News
Donated clothing polluting Kenyan communities: It’s not just e-waste that has life-and-death consequences—a new report has found that one third of all donated clothing shipped to Kenya in 2021 was "plastic waste in disguise" leading to environmental and health problems for local communities. Those picking through the waste are subjected to to toxic fumes and the burning of these materials is causing serious pollution in the country.
iFixit turns 20: When founders Kyle Wiens and Luke Soules fixed a broken iBook G3 and turned it into a repair guide, they probably didn’t imagine that twenty years later they would have created a worldwide community of over 2 million members and more than 90,000 guides.
🎙 The Verge has a podcast episode on right to repair that interviews folks from iFixit.
First Repair Café opens in Louisiana: This past summer, community members set up a repair café in New Orleans – if you’re in the area (or know someone in the area), future events are scheduled for 3/13 and 3/29.
PhD Opening in UK to research Repair Cafés: The University for the Creative Arts in Farnham, UK, is looking for a PhD student to research Repair Cafes. The university offers a three year studentship, in conjunction with UCA’s Centre for Sustainable Design, led by Professor Martin Charter.
Read the job description in creating a durable right to repair. That said, lawsuits move slowly and this case won’t be decided for a long time.
