● 12.22.21

Gemini version available ♊︎

●● Driving You Insane?

Posted in DRM, Free/Libre Software at 12:26 pm by Dr. Roy Schestowitz

Video download link | md5sum 11ede530f091de65a119d203925fe23c

http://techrights.org/videos/cars-expensive-complex.webm

Summary: Cars or any vehicles in general are being taken away from those who bought them by means that are rarely explained in the media (there’s an attempt to misframe and misportray the issue)

THE direction the car industry has taken is the subject of an ongoing series (see Part I and Part II) that started after we had witnessed further erosion of the notion of car ownership, leading to some followup videos and a lot of debate around the Web. It's about software.

Part I

Part II

further erosion of the notion of car ownership

followup videos

It's about software

> Image: John Deere product

More people seem to have woken up to the fact that not only John Deere is turning vehicles you buy and fully pay for into de facto rentals, wherein you have to ask for permission to do things (to your own vehicle) and can only receive service at extortionate prices. John Deere employees recently protested and so should we (the company is cruel to its very own workers [1-11] and to its very own customers [12-22]). When dealing with corporations one meaningful form of communication is financial (a language they understand; maybe the only language they can grasp), which means boycotting their products and encouraging others to do the same might work, causing them to change current trends. It has worked to some extent when it comes to music DRM, which never quite caught on for good (the big companies gave up; now they try streaming as a subscription instead, selling you access to what you pay for, albeit only for limited time). █

↺ John Deere

References:

1 ‘Some Things Are Worth Fighting For’: 10,000 Unionized John Deere Workers Now on Strike

2 10,000 John Deere Workers Walk Off Job as Strike Wave Sweeps US

3 The Working Class Is on Strike

4 On the John Deere Picket Line in Iowa With UAW Local 281

5 Sanders Calls John Deere Threat to Take Away Striking Workers’ Health Coverage ‘Beyond Outrageous’

6 10,000 Striking John Deere Workers Demand “Equitable” Pay & Benefits as Company Sees Record Profits

7 John Deere Strike Ends as Workers Win Higher Wages, Bonus and Better Pension

8 John Deere Workers Remain on Strike and Reject Two-Tier Pay

9 ‘Sacrifice and Solidarity’ Pay Off as Striking John Deere Workers Win Bigger Wage Hike

10 Opinion | Corporations Shouldn’t Be “The Master of Our Fate”