Wednesday, John Deere agreed to give farmers broader access to repair their tractors and farm equipment under an antitrust settlement agreement with the Federal Trade Commission, one of the biggest wins in the long right to repair battle. The settlement is the latest and by far the most important development in several recent lawsuits against John Deere, and is finally an agreement that isn’t full of half measures and doesn’t have massive, obvious loopholes.
The FTC settlement is far better than a recent, highly controversial settlement in a separate class action lawsuit against Deere brought by farmers in Illinois, and it’s worth breaking down the differences. Two years ago, I wrote an article called “The Walls Are Closing in on John Deere’s Tractor Repair Monopoly,” which followed that Illinois case, in which several farmers brought a complex, class action antitrust lawsuit against Deere. The judge in that case, Iain Johnson, wrote several scathing opinions about Deere’s anti-repair practices that indicated that he was seemingly inclined to hit Deere with stiff penalties.
But after years of litigation, the plaintiffs in that case decided to settle with Deere in April, earning a $99 million payout for farmers who paid for repairs over the last decade, and several right-to-repair protections that did not have much in the way of legal teeth.
This $99 million payout was roughly $79 million after legal fees and to be divided among more than 200,000 farmers; this means each farmer will receive roughly $395, or “less than the cost of a single authorized dealer service call for a typical 500-acre farm,” according to an analysis by Willie Cade, a longtime farm right to repair advocate.
“Bottom line is that farmers are getting $0.79 per acre for the eight years of Deere abuse,” Cade told me. “Bad settlement. The settlement is insufficient … the money is a small fraction of what the class could recover at trial, the claims process depends on labor-hour data only Deere holds, and the repair "fixes" are riddled with loopholes that leave Deere's monopoly intact.”
The Illinois settlement would prohibit farmers covered by it from filing any future repair-related litigation against Deere, and only required Deere to provide parts and repair guides to farmers under poorly defined “fair and reasonable” terms, a loophole that other manufacturers have used to claim that their parts and tools are constantly out of stock or cost astronomic prices.
“The ‘fair and reasonable terms’ standard is not price equality with dealers, nor is it a guaranteed price ceiling,” Cade wrote in his analysis. “Disputes about whether Deere’s pricing meets this standard are subject to Court oversight, but individual farmers may have limited practical ability to challenge pricing that does not obviously cross the line.”
The settlement in the Illinois case was so bad that one of the plaintiffs in the case, Wilson Farms, filed a 53 page formal objection to it two weeks ago, in part because it claims that there are many “unlitigated and uncompensated” cases in which farmers suffered under Deere’s monopoly. Under the settlement, farmers would no longer be able to sue Deere by “terminat[ing] Class members’ ability to collectively challenge Deere’s repair aftermarket monopolization for a generation.”
“Rather than provide any meaningful benefit to the Class, it appears that the proposed Settlement’s most important effect will be to give Deere its most powerful tool yet in its decades-long effort to block farmers from repairing their own equipment,” the objection says. “Extinguishment of farmers’ rights under the law.”
Other farmers called the Illinois settlement “disingenuous” and “unfair.”
The good news is that the wildly disappointing and seemingly unnecessary selling out of farmers’ rights in the Illinois case that Deere appeared to be losing very badly is greatly mitigated by the FTC’s settlement from this week. The FTC case was brought by Lina Khan under the Biden administration; to its credit, the Trump administration decided to continue litigating.
The FTC settlement does not have monetary damages for farmers, but it has far better right to repair protections for John Deere customers moving forward. In the FTC deal, the “fair and reasonable terms” are better defined and are based on the price that John Deere dealers actually pay for repair parts and tools. Deere and its dealers are not allowed to “discriminate or retaliate” against farmers who repair their own equipment (manufacturers have been known to brick devices that consumers fix themselves). The FTC settlement also includes access to farmers for “future repair resources,” meaning repair tools, guides, software, and parts that Deere creates in the future.
Deere must also file “compliance reports” with the FTC, and the FTC will have oversight of the compliance. Crucially, the FTC settlement also does not affect farmers’ private grievances against Deere, meaning it is possible for farmers to sue Deere if the company’s repair practices have affected them.
The FTC settlement is one that has actual legal teeth and enforcement mechanisms that Deere should at least theoretically have to comply with. Earlier agreements and right to repair “wins” for farmers were often half measures (though it’s worth mentioning that Colorado passed a good agriculture right to repair law in 2023 after years of struggle from farmers and advocates). Deere and various farmers’ public interest groups had previously agreed to right to repair “memorandums of understanding” in which Deere promised to make repair parts and tools available to farmers. In practice, however, these tools and parts were often not available, were not as good as what dealers and authorized service providers had access to, or were unreasonably expensive. These memorandums of understanding also had few or no enforcement mechanisms.
Cade told 404 Media in an email that this settlement order “gives farmers real hope.”
Nathan Proctor, senior right to repair campaign director for consumer rights group U.S. PIRG, said in a statement that the FTC settlement “is much better than the deal secured in [the Illinois] class action lawsuit.”
“Deere has now agreed to make available all materials needed to conduct repairs, including some which it has previously withheld,” Proctor said. “I want to thank the FTC for its work on this case. Our goal from the start of our campaign was to ensure that farmers and independent mechanics get everything they need to fix equipment. We will continue to monitor the situation and advocate to ensure that goal is a reality.”
In other words, farmers finally have an actual, major win in the right to repair fight that goes far beyond earlier piecemeal and moral victories.
PARIJS (ANP) - Frankrijk zet zeker 20.000 politiemensen in voor de WK-voetbalwedstrijd Frankrijk-Marokko, deze donderdagavond. Zo'n 8000 van hen worden ingezet in Parijs, heeft het ministerie van Binnenlandse Zaken bekendgemaakt, melden Franse media.
De autoriteiten houden er rekening mee dat rond de wedstrijd ongeregeldheden uitbreken, melden onder meer Europe 1 en Le Journal du Dimanche op basis van een instructie van het ministerie. Dat zou vooral een risico zijn als Marokko wint, gezien de "neiging van de fans om op een zichtbare en onrustige manier te vieren", aldus het document.
Le Figaro schrijft dat rekening wordt gehouden met geweld in fanzones waar de wedstrijd gekeken wordt, op andere openbare plekken in de steden en ook buiten de hoofdstad. De autoriteiten houden rekening met onder meer autobranden en plunderingen.
UTRECHT (ANP) - Bij de rechtbank in Utrecht demonstreren donderdagmiddag tientallen mensen tegen de vrijspraak van twee mannen (45 en 48) voor de verkrachting van een 17-jarig meisje in Nieuwegein. De veertigers werden vrijgesproken omdat volgens de rechtbank niet kon worden vastgesteld dat het minderjarige slachtoffer zich in een 'bijzonder kwetsbare positie' bevond. De actie wordt georganiseerd door de Dolle Mina's.
De demonstranten hebben borden bij zich met daarop teksten als 'blijf van mijn lijf', 'stop victim blaming' en 'geen ja = nee'. Een spreker op het podium vroeg aandacht voor de zogeheten fawn-reactie, een van de mogelijke reacties op dreiging of stress waarbij men zich uit zelfbescherming aanpast en over de eigen grenzen gaat. "Is het normaal dat ons rechtssysteem overlevingsreacties verwart met consent?"
Het Openbaar Ministerie had vier jaar cel geëist en gaat in hoger beroep tegen de vrijspraak.
Zwarte peper bij de was klinkt als een TikTok-gimmick, maar de truc heeft een verrassend nuchtere kern. De grove korrels zouden helpen om kleurstoffen minder snel uit je kledingvezels te spoelen, waardoor je zwarte shirts iets langer zwart blijven.
Het idee: je strooit een theelepel peperkorrels rechtstreeks in de trommel bij je donkere was. Tijdens het wassen schuren de korrels licht langs de stof, waardoor overtollige verfdeeltjes loskomen voordat ze zich elders weer hechten. In theorie voorkom je zo die grijzige waas die elk zwart T-shirt na een paar rondes in de machine krijgt. Chemisch bewijs is er nauwelijks, maar gebruikers zweren bij een subtiel verschil.
Toch blijft het vooral een huis-, tuin- en keukenhack: veilig, goedkoop en makkelijk te testen, maar geen wondermiddel. Te veel peper kan bovendien vastlopen in rubberen randen of filters als je op lage temperaturen wast. Wie echt zuinig is op zijn garderobe, komt dus nog altijd uit bij ouderwetse adviezen: kort programma, lage temperatuur, fijnwasmiddel en donkere was apart. De pepertruc is dan een speelse bonus, geen vervanging van gezond wasverstand.
MASHHAD (ANP/AFP) - Grote mensenmenigten zijn volgens Iraanse media op de been in de noordoostelijke stad Mashhad voor de uitvaart van de overleden hoogste leider van het land, ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Menigten met vlaggen en spandoeken bevolken de brede wegen die leiden naar het mausoleum van de Imam Reza (765-818) waar Khamenei later op donderdag wordt bijgezet. De gouverneur van de regio verwachtte dat er 15 miljoen mensen bijeen zouden komen voor de uitvaart. Die is vertraagd door de drukte in de stad.
Khamenei werd eind februari met naasten om het leven gebracht door gerichte Amerikaanse en Israëlische luchtaanvallen op zijn hoofdkwartier in Teheran. Doel was het regime van de sjiitische geestelijkheid te 'onthoofden', maar dat is niet gelukt.
De zesdaagse massale rouwplechtigheden in Teheran, Qom, Najaf, Karbala en ten slotte Mashhad tonen volgens de regering de populariteit van de martelaar Khamenei.
NEW YORK (ANP) - Jeansmerk Levi Strauss stond donderdag bij de dalers op de beurzen in New York. De bekende spijkerbroekenfabrikant presteerde afgelopen kwartaal beter dan verwacht en verhoogde voor de tweede keer op rij de omzetverwachting voor het hele jaar. Ook keert het bedrijf meer dividend uit. De winstverwachting viel echter wat tegen en beleggers lijken de resultaten aan te grijpen om winst te nemen in het aandeel. Het aandeel Levi's, dat dit jaar 18 procent in waarde is gestegen, werd ruim 4 procent lager gezet.
De algehele stemming op Wall Street was wisselend. De Dow-Jonesindex noteerde kort na opening 0,1 procent lager op 52.288 punten. De brede S&P 500 steeg 0,3 procent tot 7505 punten en de techgraadmeter Nasdaq won 0,4 procent tot 25.993 punten.
Officials say climate crisis ‘worsening our exposure’ to bacteria as at least 28 people sickened in Manhattan
A New York outbreak of legionnaires’ disease, a rare but severe form of pneumonia, highlights the microbe’s growing and disproportionate impacts in a warming climate.
At least 28 people have been sickened in an outbreak on the Upper East Side, a wealthy neighborhood between Central Park and the East River in Manhattan. Health department officials, seeking to stop the outbreak, have sampled water from nearly 160 building cooling towers to test for the bacteria.
Continue reading...As his American Utopia tour film hits cinemas, the musician answers your questions about his Scottish sense of humour, working with Brian Eno and his desire to direct another film
In May 1977, Talking Heads along with Ramones toured the UK starting at Eric’s Club in Liverpool. Did touring as punk exploded have an impact on you? SpiritofWacker
There was something really great about that tour because other than maybe a few singles the audience had never seen us, so there was a lot of curiosity and openness to us and Ramones, as different as we were. Later on, fans kind of decided they liked this band or didn’t like this band, but everything happened very quickly. I remember we did a show at the Roundhouse [in London] where somebody in the audience was gobbing on the bands and, of course, Ramones really didn’t like this. Understandably enough, they didn’t see it as a sign of – ha! – respect: “We’re with you so we’re gonna spit on you.” Ramones got more of that than we did, but at least they had leather jackets. We didn’t.
Ever since the Stop Making Sense tour, it seems to me that your live shows have been a quest to unchain the band from the physical restrictions of the typical rock concert. If that is so, where do you go from here? Lucifer_Sam
From various tours I’d realised that my guitar could be wireless. Then I did a tour with St Vincent where the brass players had started in marching bands, so were used to being mobile. I thought: “OK, what about drums?” I looked at drumline in American football and samba schools in Rio. I asked my longtime percussionist Mauro [Refosco] how many players we’d need to break down the drum kit into components and he said six. I took a big gulp and said: “I think we can afford it.” Then I discovered a Hungarian company which had invented a Midi keyboard on a self-powered rack. Suddenly, the whole band were liberated to move about, which democratised the concert experience for the musicians and the audience, who get to understand what each one does.
Game of Thrones actor Anton Lesser brings poise and depth to this classic adaptation, conjuring monsters, heroes and Gods
With its gods, monsters and dizzying scale, Homer’s the Odyssey is deemed by many to be unfilmable, though it hasn’t stopped directors from having a go, including Christopher Nolan, whose blockbuster adaptation comes to cinemas next week. An audiobook would seem a smart choice, allowing listeners to deploy their imaginations to conjure dark sorcery, supernatural beasts and epic storms rather than leaning on CGI.
This classic recording, first published in 2006, is based on Ian Johnston’s much-admired translation. It is narrated by the Game of Thrones actor Anton Lesser, who brings gravitas and texture to this tale of Odysseus, king of Ithaca, and his efforts to get home after the 10-year Trojan War. Odysseus’s journey is fraught as he encounters the wrath of the sea god Poseidon in the form of a man-eating monster and a whirlpool that swallows ships. Then comes Calypso, the beautiful goddess-nymph and daughter of Atlas who keeps him on an island for seven years in the hope that he will stay as her husband.
Continue reading...Park/Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin/Egel
(BIS)
The young violinist pairs contrasting works by Goldmark and Sibelius in engaging and fluid performances
A relative rarity in the concert hall, Karl Goldmark’s 1877 Violin Concerto has nevertheless fared reasonably well on disc. South Korean violinist Sueye Park pairs it here not with another 19th-century staple but with miniatures by Sibelius: the bucolic Suite from 1929, the Two Serious Melodies, written at the outbreak of the first world war, and two of his six Humoresques.
The composers crossed paths when the Finn studied briefly under Goldmark in 1890s Vienna, but despite the polite whiff of folk music that hangs about the Hungarian’s concerto, it has little in common with Sibelius’s unvarnished Nordic nationalism. It makes the album something of a game of two halves, though there’s nothing inherently wrong with that.
Continue reading...Plan unveiled for ground 350 metres from Old Trafford
Working cost of stadium previously stated as £2bn
Manchester United have said their proposed new 100,000-capacity stadium may lead to further debt being loaded on the club but insisted it will be “a sanity, not vanity project”.
Plans for United’s new home were unveiled on Thursdayand showed it would be built 350 metres north-west of the current Old Trafford. The club are about £1.3bn in debt and in March 2025 Omar Berrada, United’s chief executive, said £2bn was the working cost of the stadium.
Continue reading...Questions swirl about origins of gifts, loans and donations as even party supporters wonder if it can weather the storm
Scrutiny is mounting on Reform UK’s finances.
On Tuesday, amid an investigation by parliamentary standards into an undisclosed £5m gift, Nigel Farage announced he would resign and trigger a byelection in his constituency of Clacton-on-Sea.
Continue reading...US president contested judge’s order to release money after Carroll’s 2023 sexual abuse and defamation trial against him
A Manhattan federal appeals court late on Wednesday rejected Donald Trump’s latest bid to delay the payment of more than $5m to E Jean Carroll following her successful 2023 sexual abuse and defamation trial against him.
The US court of appeals for the second circuit made its decision hours after Trump filed paperwork fighting Manhattan federal court judge Lewis Kaplan’s order releasing this money – which has been held in a court-controlled account since June 2023. Trump denies all wrongdoing.
Continue reading...Stacks: “Run HyperCard stacks directly on your modern Mac. No emulator required!”
Meta, like other tech giants, is facing rapidly expanding power needs due to the growth of AI, and Alberta is rich in natural gas which sells at a significant discount to the U.S. benchmark. The province's cold climate also makes cooling the massive super-computers and related data center infrastructure more cost-efficient. The 20 existing small- to mid-scale data centers in Alberta already pull from the province's energy grid, which is 60% powered by natural gas. The provincial government is giving new proponents the option to build their own power sources to avoid limits on power capacity. Meta said Wednesday it will fully fund new generation and grid infrastructure for its Alberta data center, which will consume about as much electricity as 800,000 homes. Gary Demasi, Meta's vice president for data center development, said the company will offset that electricity use by investing in clean and renewable energy. He also said the data center will use a closed-loop liquid cooling system, meaning its total water use will be less than that of a typical golf course.
[...] The company has partnered with Alberta-based Pembina Pipeline , which announced last week it will go ahead with its Greenlight Electricity Centre, a new natural gas-fired power-generation facility in Sturgeon County which will be in service in late 2030 and with which Meta has a long-term tolling agreement. Until that project is operational and for the next decade, Alberta-based power producer Capital Power will provide 250 megawatts of electricity for the site using its existing natural gas-fired fleet. The project will require approximately 150 million cubic feet per day of natural gas, according to Pembina, helping to create demand for Western Canadian natural gas producers.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
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