This bill requires companies that make farm equipment (original equipment manufacturers, or OEMs) to provide owners and independent repair providers with documentation, parts, software, firmware, and tools needed to diagnose, maintain, upgrade, reprogram, or repair farm equipment. It requires that these items be made available on "fair and reasonable terms." The bill also requires OEMs to provide farm equipment data to the owner, and to provide tools or documentation needed to enable or disable security-related functions of equipment.
The bill creates exceptions to certain copyright access controls so people may circumvent technological measures when the purpose is diagnosis, repair, interoperability, security research, or non-infringing modification of farm equipment software. It allows making or selling technologies used to circumvent access controls for those repair-related purposes.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) will enforce the bill. Violations are treated as unfair or deceptive acts under the FTC Act. The bill sets additional civil daily penalties if an OEM stops offering required documentation, parts, software, or tools: $1,000 per day for a first violation, $2,000 per day for a second, and $5,000 per day for third and later violations. The FTC must also issue rules to implement the law, including rules consistent with the Clean Air Act where applicable.
The bill defines many key terms (for example, "farm equipment," "tool," "documentation," "fair and reasonable terms," and "authorized repair provider") and includes limits. It does not force OEMs to disclose trade secrets except as necessary for repair, does not require manufacturers to provide parts only used in product development, and prohibits allowing repairs that permanently disable required safety notifications or bring equipment out of compliance with safety or emissions laws.
No publicly available information.
No publicly available information.