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

Hope Deere gets what's coming to them and this sets a precedent for other companies. Next on the list should be devices remotely disabled when they're discontinued, which would have otherwise continued to work perfectly fine (like the Spotify car device).

Would also like to see a ban on firmware updates and programming tools locked behind a dealer (or support contract) portal and a ban on time-restricted software licenses for hardware.

In line with remote-bricking discontinued hardware, these policies only serve to generate eWaste.

If you sell programmable hardware, or really anything with embedded software, you should be required to make all the tools and software available to end users (doesn’t have to be free, but shouldn’t require a subscription or support contract either) in perpetuity.

Licenses to enable additional hardware features are fine, but they must be granted for the life of the device (i.e. as long as it can be kept working), not an arbitrary “we think the life of this thing is 5 years”. You should never have to keep paying to use a device you already bought.

> ban on firmware updates and programming tools locked behind a dealer

Tesla won't let you buy parts unless you enter the vehicle vin. I believe some other things you have to order through the tesla app.

I think those kinds of requirements should be disallowed too.

The VIN requirement may be due to part (version) differences between vintages. Most automakers make few changes during production of (one year’s) model, whereas Tesla seems to make changes all the time.

Model year and engine config (e.g. cylinder count) has usually been enough for auto parts for decades.