How does the DMCA stop a tractor owner from replacing a faulty sensor, engine part, or a drive belt? The article implies that the DMCA stops the farmer from fixing even mechanical components.
It seems like there's plenty of room for a middle ground here. Deere certainly could have opened up some kind of way for owners to get fault codes out of the system, at least for things that are user-replaceable. Hell, the UI should at least put up that message ("CHECK ENGINE OIL", "BELT BROKEN", etc). But then the owner might not buy the replacement part from Deere, right? Perhaps that's the real motivation here.
As another example, I had a check engine light on my car. It was ~$500 to check the code fault and replace a sensor. If I had my own access to those codes, I could have done the work myself for a fraction of the cost, but the car manufacturer knows that I'm limited in my options. If I want to renew my car tabs, I'll have to pay them and their service technician to do the work. It's a racket.
That and 2 minutes of Googling will point you in the right direction generally.
My cars haven't seen the inside of a dealer's service bay in over 10 years, other than for warranty or recall work.
If you own a BMW, for example, the detailed diagnostic information for the rest of the car is sitting on their MODBUS, which is only readable with a very expensive tool and software sold only to BMW dealers.
Whether or not you can service the rest of the car in a DIY or third-party fashion is a commercial concern, not a regulatory concern. I think BMW makes fine cars, but their anti-DIY stance is why I won't own one. (Porsche, Mercedes, and the VW group are more DIY friendly, though still not totally.)
You can get OBD2 readers for not very much money (<$20), which would have let you read the code.
It's this, or else it was never in the scope of work to begin with.
>Would a company like JD really keep things cryptic on purpose?
Yes. It serves their interests well.
I would love to see an analysis of modern machine downtime versus equivalent machines from 10 and 20 years ago.
Just imagine if the likes of JD puts all tractor operating parameters in a cloud system, and requires not just Internet access but a login to operate the machine. Not unlike a certain startup from a couple years ago that sold hardware (was it home security?) that required constant cloud access to operate.
I have friends with skid-steers who beg me to replace the keyless electronic start & monitoring console with a simple electro-mechanical key and analog gauges.