---
title: The People vs. John Deere
date_pub: 2015-04-22T00:00:00-04:00
date_upd: 2018-12-01T14:39:00-05:00
description: John Deere argues that farmers don't own their tractors, and this does not bode well for our IoT future.
content_type: journal
tags: code hacking politics privacy
---

Over at Wired, [iFixit's](https://www.ifixit.com/) Kyle Wiens ([@kwiens](https://twitter.com/kwiens)) points out that #DMCA abuse extends well beyond preventing you from [jailbreaking your PS3](http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2015/04/us-government-takes-on-legal-fight-over-console-jailbreaking-once-more/) and into the world of... [farm machinery](http://www.wired.com/2015/04/dmca-ownership-john-deere/)?

> In a particularly spectacular display of corporate delusion, John Deere—the world’s largest agricultural machinery maker —told the Copyright Office that farmers don’t own their tractors. Because computer code snakes through the DNA of modern tractors, farmers receive “an implied license for the life of the vehicle to operate the vehicle.”
>
> It’s John Deere’s tractor, folks. You’re just driving it.

I find this particularly worrisome with regards to the #InternetOfThings, and the possibility of forced vendor lock-in on even the most trivial of items ("I'm sorry, sir, you'll have to call a certified Moen plumber to fix your leak.")

Welcome to the future. [Fight to make it better.](http://www.digitalrighttorepair.org/)
