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I agree what you say should be true, but companies are trying to change the First-Sale Doctrine. Companies like John Deer say you are licensing the tech, not bu

I agree what you say should be true, but companies are trying to change the First-Sale Doctrine. Companies like John Deer say you are licensing the tech, not buying it, thus you do not own everything in the vehicle you 'bought'. Software companies have used this logic for years and it's beginning to bleed over into hardware. Companies want you to license things and do away with ownership. I'm on your side though, I believe in the First-Sale Doctrine and do not want to see it undermined, but there's a financial incentive for companies to do away with it and they will keep trying unless we make hard rulings in cases like this one against Lexmark. Look at what Nintendo tried to do with the resale market of their game discs and cartridges.

giaour 11y ago
Wait, the John Deere lawsuits were about hardware? I thought they were arguing that they only licensed (and didn't sell) the firmware controlling their newer tractors. I.e., the same bullshit companies have been pulling for decades. IIRC, the original inspiration for the Free Software Foundation was a buggy, restrictively licensed printer driver.
- vinbreau 11y ago
  Sorry, didn't mean to muddy the conversation. It's not the hardware they say is licensed, it's the necessary software used to run the machine. Either way, you don't own the entire product, only part of it, and the most essential part is what is licensed. Without the software the hardware is useless so it may as well be the hardware.
  - giaour 11y ago
    In theory, someone could write GPL tractor firmware, and I don't think anyone from John Deere could legally prevent you from replacing their locked-down firmware with GnuTractor or whatever. (Then again, IANAL, so maybe they could?) Frankly, this seems like an area where the FSF could do a lot of good and garner a lot of goodwill.
    - vinbreau 11y ago
      If Apple can void your warranty for jailbreaking I'm sure John Deere could do the same.

giaour 11y ago

Wait, the John Deere lawsuits were about hardware? I thought they were arguing that they only licensed (and didn't sell) the firmware controlling their newer tractors. I.e., the same bullshit companies have been pulling for decades. IIRC, the original inspiration for the Free Software Foundation was a buggy, restrictively licensed printer driver.

vinbreau 11y ago
Sorry, didn't mean to muddy the conversation. It's not the hardware they say is licensed, it's the necessary software used to run the machine. Either way, you don't own the entire product, only part of it, and the most essential part is what is licensed. Without the software the hardware is useless so it may as well be the hardware.
- giaour 11y ago
  In theory, someone could write GPL tractor firmware, and I don't think anyone from John Deere could legally prevent you from replacing their locked-down firmware with GnuTractor or whatever. (Then again, IANAL, so maybe they could?) Frankly, this seems like an area where the FSF could do a lot of good and garner a lot of goodwill.
  - vinbreau 11y ago
    If Apple can void your warranty for jailbreaking I'm sure John Deere could do the same.