Elizabeth Warren Calls For a National Right-to-Repair Law for Tractors

Massachusetts Senator and Democratic Presidential hopeful Elizabeth Warren has become the highest profile politician to support right to repair legislation in the United States. From a report: On Wednesday, Warren outlined a sweeping plan to support family farms and diminish the power of corporate agriculture. At the top of the list, she supports a national right-to-repair law for tractors and other agricultural equipment. That means she supports the simple idea that people who own a tractor should be able to repair it without permission from John Deere or any other manufacturer. 'Farmers should be able to repair their own equipment or choose between multiple repair shops,' Warren said in a Medium post outlining her proposal. 'That's why I strongly support a national right-to-repair law that empowers farmers to repair their equipment without going to an authorized agent.' For now, Warren's proposal would apply only to farm equipment, not consumer electronics.

Farmers operating John Deere tractors have been fighting against John Deere's repair monopoly for years. Device manufacturers don't want people repairing their own stuff and they've taken pains to make it difficult to do so. Newer John Deere equipment comes loaded with software and firmware that make it impossible for farmers to fix their own equipment. Instead, they have to call an authorized dealer and wait for them to show up -- a fix that's too slow and too costly for a farmer. 'The national right-to-repair law should require manufacturers of farm equipment to make diagnostic tools, manuals, and other repair-related resources available to any individual or business, not just their own dealerships and authorized agents,' Warren said. 'This will not only allow individuals to fix their own equipment -- reducing delays -- but it will also create competition among dealers and independent repair shops, bringing down prices overall.' Further reading: Grandson of Legendary John Deere Inventor Calls Out Company On Right To Repair.

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