The feds are coming for John Deere over the right to repair

It isn't a free market. It is a regulated market and that regulation benefits both innovation and the producers and consumers in the market.

What public interest is served by allowing companies to engage in anti-competitive and anti-consumer practices like locking people into proprietary systems?

The world is a better place because regulators mandate things like interoperability in phones or requirements that auto manufacturers supply parts for 3rd party mechanics to fix vehicles.