John Deere agreed on July 8 to settle a lawsuit by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and five U.S. states accusing the farm equipment maker of illegally requiring farmers to use its network of authorized dealers for repairs, rather than use independent service providers or do the work themselves.
The settlement resolves the FTC and the joint lawsuits filed by Illinois, Arizona, Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin against Deere, which alleged that the American farm machinery company used unlawful practices to limit farmers’ and independent repair providers’ ability to perform repairs.
Deere, officially Deere & Company, makes the only software repair tools capable of performing all electronic repairs on Deere equipment….