Ownership gets weird when software can say no

talk
1

If you buy a $300k tractor, what should you legally be allowed to do to it? The part that bugs me is how often “repair” turns into “wait for the manufacturer to unlock the thing you already paid for.”

I get the safety argument in a few cases, but a lot of this feels like rent-seeking with a nicer label. Curious where people draw the line between legit safety controls and software DRM dressed up as maintenance.

source: John Deere owners will get the right to repair their own equipment under a new FTC settlement

2

“Safety” gets used like a valet key — sure, it can keep you from doing something dumb at 2am, but it’s not supposed to mean the manufacturer keeps the real keys forever.

If a repair needs calibration steps or error codes, fine, give me the tools/docs and let me take the risk like I do with literally every other piece of heavy machinery. When “repair” means “pay us to click unlock,” that’s not safety, that’s a subscription wearing a hard hat.