Why are American farmers bypassing DRM tractors with Ukrainian firmware - an analysis of the situation

This article - a detailed analysis of the situation with agricultural machinery in the United States, described in the previously published news .

Many manufacturers of electronic systems are doing everything to ordinary users could not independently repair their gadgets. But over the past few years, a similar trend has emerged in a completely different area - the automotive industry and even in the production of agricultural machinery. On Geektimes materials were already published that John Deere protects the on-board computer software of their tractors.
')
Farmers cannot break into DRM digital protection, as these actions are subject to the 1998 Digital Millennium Copyright Act. For violation of the DMCA, the court may order the farmer to pay half a million US dollars or imprison him for several years. For the repair of tractors, you have to wait until the company specialist arrives on the farm, or take the equipment to a service center, which is associated with a loss of time and money. Farmers in the United States who own John Deere equipment, not wanting to pay fines or lose both time and money during the harvest, found a way out: they buy a modified firmware that Ukrainian and Polish craftsmen create and replace it with factory software.

This firmware, as well as other software for the John Deere equipment, is being changed by some specialists from Ukraine. Farmers in the USA do not see any other way out. “When the harvest time comes, and we break, in most cases we simply don’t have time to wait for the employee of the company's dealer to fix the problem,” says Danny Klus, a Nebraska farmer.

In October last year, John Deere began to demand from buyers of its equipment to sign an agreement . According to this document, the farmer undertakes not to attempt to repair or modify the equipment purchased from the company. According to the manufacturer, such a step allows to avoid lawsuits from farmers regarding “crop losses, reduced profits, damage to equipment caused by the action or inaction of software”. That is, only authorized service centers can deal with problem equipment and software from John Deere.

Farmers disagree. “If a farmer buys a tractor, he should be able to do with him everything that comes to his mind,” said Kevin Kenny, a farmer and supporter of the “right to repair.” He is sure that if it is necessary to replace any part, then either the equipment owner or any independent mechanic should have the right to do it. By the way, if you use the services of authorized service centers, this also entails significant costs for farmers. For example, representatives of John Deere charge $ 230 for a call and $ 130 per hour for a technician who simply checks the performance of the tractor with the help of diagnostic equipment. For repair itself will have to pay extra.

About the problem with John Deere and equipment rights a couple of years ago it became known to the whole world. After some time, software appeared on the market of illegal software that helps farmers avoid the need to contact authorized service centers.



Such software is in most cases much less than even an hour of operation of a John Deere technician. The software shown in the screenshot above will cost the farmer $ 99. According to many farmers, the only way out for them is the black market and “illegal” repair. “I’m not a representative of big business, but suppose you are a guy with a tractor that broke down, and the nearest service center is located 70 kilometers from you. The only option in this case is illegal repairs and related software, ”says one of the farmers in Nebraska, USA, using a modified firmware.

The software in question is sold in specialized forums, access to which is sold for money. Motherboard journalist Online decided to check what happens on such resources. He paid $ 25 as an entry fee and got to the forum, where dozens of farmers say that they were desperate to repair or modify their own tractors. In these forums, they are offered specialized software from John Deere, over which hackers from Ukraine and Poland have worked.

The cost of some universal programs is very high, but farmers still buy them, because without this no further work is possible. In addition, even such a price is less than the price of repairing a tractor at a John Deere service center, taking into account all downtime, hiring a tow truck and other associated costs.



Specialized equipment is also sold, without which diagnostics and repair of agricultural equipment from John Deere is impossible. We managed to talk with one of the software providers on the Internet, he said that most of the software offered by the company is free software, for which, however, John Deere is demanding to pay money in the form of royalties.

Farmers are outraged by this fact, believing that John Deere is now doing everything to become a monopolist in the field of service maintenance of their own machinery. “If everything went as it should, companies like John Deere should provide software for free. They should stop blocking the possibility of diagnosing equipment. But they do it, and now they have a 100% monopoly, ”says one of the disgruntled farmers.


The video above shows the process of equipment and software that is sold on the black market.

From a legal point of view, the actions of farmers to install the modified software - a violation of the law. However, in 2015, the US Copyright Office, under pressure from the Farmers ’Repair Lobby, approved more exceptions for the DMCA than ever before. One of the exceptions was the repair of tractors. Unfortunately, this was not a complete victory. Thus, the court ruled that only the owner himself, and not a hired technician, can repair the tractor. Most farmers are well aware of what the tractor itself is and how it works, but they do not understand what the onboard system software is. In addition, the software still remains paid. Moreover, the amendment to the DMCA law is valid only for three years. That is, as early as next year, farmers will either have to push the similar amendment again, or everything will return to normal.

And even now, when the amendment is still valid, lawyers at John Deere are doing everything to avoid the need to provide the right to repair the owners of their equipment. Buyers are forced to sign a document, which explicitly states that the owner should use only the services of certified centers. In case of violation of this clause of the contract for a person who decided to repair the tractor himself, it is possible to sue. And the case will be considered in the usual manner, and not in terms of copyright infringement.


The company also claims that there is no problem. “When a customer purchases equipment from John Deere, he or she becomes the owner of this equipment. As the owner, he or she can repair and maintain the equipment. The buyer also has the opportunity to maintain or repair equipment with the help of an operator or instructions or other sources of information, ”said the company representatives. - “Software modifications increase the risk of equipment malfunction. As a result, if unskilled users are allowed to work with software, this can reduce the quality of equipment operation, which will lead to its non-compliance with the requirements of regulators. ”

Representatives of the organization Repair.org have already said that the statement of the company is not true. Thus, according to the head of the organization, Gay Gordon-Byrne (Gay Gordon-Byrne), some farmers have already tried to purchase diagnostic equipment from the manufacturer, in order to carry out repairs themselves. They did not succeed - the equipment was not sold.

“They (the John Deere company, ed.) Are demanding the signing of a license agreement, which expressly prohibits the implementation of all the actions that they listed in their statement. Deere is a monopolist who systematically demonstrates that it is the company that owns the equipment, despite full payment from customers. They require control of the equipment even after the purchase and sale act is completed, which is not in compliance with the law, ”Gordon-Byrne said.



On the part of the company, everything is logical, if we consider service as one of the sources of income. It sells equipment, but controls any aspect of the software, without which the operation of the same tractors is impossible. As a result, farmers are unable to modify their tractors and other equipment the way they would like and have to pay big money.

It also becomes impossible for owners of equipment to save money on fuel. One of the farmers wanted to remake the engine to use methane instead of diesel fuel, but for this it was necessary to break the contract with the company, which he decided not to do. “I wanted to get methane using a pork manure biosystem. For example, I use methane as a fuel for my Chevy Diesel Pickup and another tractor, ”this craftsman says. But due to the conditions of John Deere, it was impossible to modify the engine of one of the tractors manufactured by this company.

The service life of tractors is quite long, if they carry out proper care and maintenance. Farmers who buy John Deere tractors worry about what can happen in 10-20 years. For example, what if the company is sold? Or representatives of John Deere will simply cease to support "outdated software and hardware." “Will my tractor turn into garbage or what?”, One of the farmers asks a rhetorical question.

By the way, now the interests of farmers are protected by the founder of the iFixit community , Kyle Wine (Kyle Wiens). He believes that any purchaser of equipment should have the right to repair his own equipment. “I am not a lawyer. I am a master in repairing my occupation and a specialist in developing software for education. I repair things - especially those related to computer equipment ... When my farmer friend wants to know if there is a way to “set up” the protected software of his tractor, I know that this is wrong, ”says Vine.

If the problem itself is interesting, you can listen to the discussion (almost 2.5 hours) at a recent hearing held in a US court.


Besides him, farmers are supported by representatives of other professions. This, for example, lawyers, technicians, electronics specialists. But only change of laws , in particular - the Law of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998, can be of real help. And this is very difficult, because six major Hollywood studios are against it, including The Walt Disney Company, Sony Pictures, Paramount Pictures, 20th Century Fox, Universal Studios, Warner Bros and other organizations. As we see, in the world of monopolies everything is connected - both recording studios, and electronics manufacturers, and even suppliers of agricultural equipment.