During the conflict in Ukraine, Russia had made a strange trophy of war: it had stolen tons of grain and remarkable tractors. The Russians promised them very happily, but after moving them 800 km to the area where they plan to use them, surprise: there was no way to get rid of them.

The problem was not with the tractors. Apparently, the manufacturer John Deere had disabled them remotely.. This company has been widely criticized for its techniques to prevent unauthorized repairs to its machines, but the same approach and remote access capabilities of its software serve a unique function these days.

anti-loot technology

The War in Ukraine causes striking situations that have a lot to do with the latest technological developments. A Ukrainian managed to track the movements of Russian troops when his AirPods were stolen, and this tracking was also brought up by a professor from Monterey, California. Google Maps and radar images used.

However, tractors from manufacturer John Deere gave the last surprise. The company has been at the center of the right to repair debate in recent years: they propose all kinds of technological measures for repair. prevent those who buy tractors from repairing them.

Russian soldiers stole agricultural implements worth 5 million euros in the occupied Ukrainian city of Melitopol. stolen combinations worth 300,000 euros eachHe was transferred to a town in Chechnya, 800 km away, but when the Russians tried to start them, they found that this was not possible.

John Deere had disabled them thanks to the remote locking function. Agricultural equipment has long had functions like this or a GPS receiver that allows it to be located at all times – not to mention its renewed commitment to autonomous tractors – but despite these events, the debate is open.

The software offers interesting advantages when it comes to updating and improving agricultural equipment – ​​or fixing bugs as if it were another app on mobile or PC – but it also offers interesting advantages. avoid interference by users themselves. This has made hacking tractors and installing firmware to unlock them surprisingly common now.

John Deere is certainly not alone. oppose “home repair”. The mobile and laptop industry is not easy for us, but of course there are other manufacturers such as General Motors who have confirmed that denial of such freedoms supports innovation.

This approach is of course controversial for many users trying to fix their own devicesand tech giants like Apple have had to steer their strategies in that direction. Recently the Cupertino firm announced its home repair program, but as we’ve seen, many don’t pay.