DMCA and vehicle control software
 

So this link about John Deere is kinda disturbing. I don't think I have ever seen this done. I have always assumed that when you buy a product with embedded software, that software was yours to do with as you see fit, just like the physical hardware of a vehicle.

Clearly JD is trying something different.
https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20150513/18001030993/john-deere-clarifies-trying-to-abuse-copyright-law-to-stop-you-owning-your-own-tractor-because-it-cares-about-you.shtml

This also ties into Tesla doing an over the air update unlocking the extra 'hidden' battery capacity of lower models for 'hurricane relief' giving owners and extra 40 miles (15kw). You can purchase this option normally for $9k. Like JD, you cannot work (read software update/hack) your tesla.

This is actually not a new debate.

Been gong on for a while now.

JD, or anyone for that matter, can sell you a tractor while licensing you the software that runs it.

Run down to Best Buy, pick up a new computer.

Do you now own the the operating system or did you purchase a piece of hardware with a license to use the OS?

It's the later.

The world is full of devices that only use a portion of their capacity, the software allows you (or doesn't allow you) to access certain functions.

There are multiple issues, one is the right to repair. The second is using only what the seller sold to you.

Industrial robots are a good example. They have all sorts of functionality, it is enabled or disabled in the code. You aren't allowed to enable features you did not pay for.

Tesla could argue the additional capacity is there to allow them to meet their long term warranty obligations, you paid for X kW, you get access to X kW.

It's not going away.

GM does something similar with the Volt. It limits usage of it's 16.5 KWh battery to 10 KWh. It is to keep the car from experiencing range loss due to battery wear. The battery can deteriorate by 40% and you'll still have the same range that you paid for when you bought the car. I suppose Tesla made some calculation that if buyers paid more for their car up front the extra $$ would cover increased warranty claims for lack of capacity. It would be great if there was some kind of emergency override available to everyone.

For Tesla, the upgrade to go from 60 to 75 started at $9k, they dropped it to $7,500, and finally down to $2,000 when they discontinued the 60 and started selling the 75 at the same price as the outgoing 60.

So it's not really a $9,000 upgrade, anymore. It was a great PR move on Tesla's part, and whoever bought a 60 should have known that the battery was software limited, so no one should really complain.

Seems to me that if you are "leasing" the software, you have the right to install different software altogether.

Ive posted things about stuff like this before.

Welcome to the world of caring about Free software.

I suppose so, but you void your warranty.

"free" software -not the same as free beer!

True. Libre not gratis. But gratis is a frequent dide effect.

Even running Linux you are still working under the terms of a license. It just happens to be a license that grants you freedoms instead of restricting you further.

(this is a question and situation more suited to dedicated intellectual property rights attorneys but...)

Entire warranty? The whole thing?
That sounds fraudulent.

Suppose a factory radio knob breaks, and it is replaced with some 3rd party knob, but then a tire fails and proprietary ABS functionality locks up a front wheel and spins the vehicle into the bridge guardrail and over the cliff killing everyone inside.
That is then considered ok.
Because one single small print contractual stipulation has been violated.
Huh? What kind of 'law' is that?

But then again:
MAYBE THERE SHOULD BE FEDERAL EASY-TO-READ CONSUMER LABELS ON ALL CONTRACTS JUST LIKE THERE IS ON FOOD.
Not identifying the landmines voids any rights claimed on behalf of the seller.

I write software for machine tools. These machine tools are used by Ford, GM, Mercedes, VW, JD, Harley, etc...

We have a clause in our contract that states the warranty can be voided if ANY change is made to our original software, as shipped from the factory, or field updates.

We keep track of what we have installed in over 20k machines.
It is a liability issue. We can be held liable for machine down-time. The biggest issue is the safety of the machine. If an incident occurs, the first thing we do is verify the software. Modern machine tools no longer have safety relays. They use redundant processors, and programs to ensure the safety of the operator. We can't have customers changing that.

No, the Magnusson-Morris warranty act provides protection against that. The replacement part has to be relevant to the failure to be a violation of the warranty.

The problem is, make software, tech, leasing, and various other contracts easy to read, and we'll still sign them.

Ive read and understand the GPL. Have you read and understood the Windows EULAs you've agreed to? My time in Law School at UF was for bathroom breaks while walking/bikibg by ...

That's a totally unrealistic scenario.

The 3rd party knob will never fit as snugly as a factory knob meaning the first bounce over the cliff will dislodge it and it will fly out of the shattered window and wind up so far from the vehicle it'll never come to light.

Even if it's not dislodged by the extremely violent tumbling experienced by a vehicle as it careens off a cliff it will most certainly be completely consumed by the impending fireball once again leaving no trace.

Really, the silly **** you worry about.......

All our JD tractors are from the late 80's so I haven't ran into too much I can't figure out yet, which is typically just normal end of life parts swapping. I do call in the pros is I know its gonna take me days to fix when a pro can do it in a day. It's getting down to nut-cutting though, I'm spending more time in the barn then in the field. Been pushing the old man to up-grade but ...heavy farm equipment is not priced the same as it was in the 60's and 70's which my father isn't seeming to understand very well.

I do know a lot of local farmers (I'm a rancher) are and were using soviet hacks to fix and diagnose problems on their modern JD stuff. Yes I did say soviet which in cattle country were I reside, raised my eye-brow. Of course it is their kids doing it, when I say kids I'm talking 30 to 40 year olds. The vast, vast majority of farmers and ranchers are in their late 60's and older (most of us kids do not come back).

Another trend is nobody is buying new equipment anymore, its too hard to sage-brush mechanic, and nobody can afford the labor costs of taking it in to get the computers fixed. So everyone smart leases farm equipment these days to keep it under warranty.

Technology is hitting the old timers very hard and very fast in the Ag world.-WW

ps. Dad flips out every time he see the bill from the mechanic. When its just too magic for me to fix, we have one come out. I have to explain it's all in labor cost. Last week it was a $300 bill for a $60 part. He can't seem to wrap his head around $90 a hour?"Get off my lawn" runs deep in agriculture.

You sign them now.

but wait there's more..
In 23.25 days a pop-up appears on the original web site (but only if all 3rd party javascript is automatically activated of course).
It instructs you that the EULA has changed.
You now have 3.14 hours to respond or you automatically accept new terms and conditions.
To contest these new changes in EULA you have to click through to a separate website.
This website is registered to a subsidiary corporation, part of a separate corporation, in a foreign registered country, which you are responsible to verify.
BTW their website is not written in .html or C+. It is in northern diameticalese klingon.

Ha.
Ya thought you was gettin' a computer fer xmas "to surf tha net" but it's really a little legal time bomb ya bought.
Go fer it grandma!!!

I hear building tandem rigs is making a comeback - now they're building them from 70s era tractors. Big power without computers. Tandem rigs became popular - or necessary - during WWII when labor was in short supply. There were some strange combinations. I know a guy who mated a Allis Chalmers WC to a Cat crawler. A guy in North Dakota farmed with tandem and triple two cylinder Deeres right into the 1970s. There were lots of working tandem hitches into the 50s, then turbos came along and horsepower was cheap and easy.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1505189151.jpg

This is from the 50s, before adding turbos gave a single tractor more horsepower.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1505189151.jpg

Of course you could add a turbo to an LP tractor and add a few weights for traction. :D