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IPFS News Link • Agriculture

Tractor Hacking: Watch Our Documentary About Farmers Fighting for the Right to Repair

• https://motherboard.vice.com, Jason Koebler

About a year ago, I found out about a community of farmers who trade firmware hacks for John Deere tractors on forums and torrent sites. These aren't criminals; they're average farmers who are frustrated with and increasingly economically destroyed by the fact that Deere and other big agriculture companies have monopolized the repair of their tractors. 

Proprietary software locks prevent the average farmer and mechanic from diagnosing problems with their equipment, and many parts cannot be replaced unless software locks are bypassed to enable the replacement part. The forums I found were interesting, but there's only so much reporting you can do from a computer and telephone in New York.


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