Anti-paywall link: https://www.wired.com/story/ftc-sues-john-deere-over-repairability/
Today the US Federal Trade Commission filed a lawsuit against farming equipment manufacturer Deere & Company—makers of the iconic green John Deere tractors, harvesters, and mowers—citing its longtime reluctance to keep its customers from fixing their own machines.
“Farmers rely on their agricultural equipment to earn a living and feed their families,” FTC chair Lina Khan wrote in a statement alongside the full complaint. “Unfair repair restrictions can mean farmers face unnecessary delays during tight planting and harvest windows.”
IIRC a mixture of inertia (“we’ve always used John Deere”) and some specialty equipment/attachments that only they make and would not necessarily work with other brands
At some point continuing to use a product that abuses you is just your own fault.
I hope a movement starts where they start switching, JD will conform very quickly if their sales tank.