In Frontier, South Carolina, a town of fewer than 400 people, the Honey Bee Manufacturing plant stands on a massive 120,000 square foot site.
The business of making header and coverhas grown from a two-man family business to a manufacturer that employs approximately 200 people and ships agricultural attachments all over the world.
However, Honey Bee is currently monitoring new challenges that are often associated with Silicon Valley.
Just as some equipment won’t work with third-party charging cables, some farm equipment is equipped with technology that prevents farmers from using third-party branded attachments, and companies like Honey Bee , are concerned that this practice is on the rise.
Honey Bee General Manager Jamie Pegg said: “It’s becoming more and more prevalent every day and every year.”
Agricultural equipment is becoming increasingly digital, and some companies are now using digital locks. John Schmeiser, president of the North American Equipment Dealers Association, said this protects copyrighted technology and prevents hacking.
But he said that could become a problem if digital locks were also used to prevent one brand’s products from working with another brand’s products.
Canadians currently cannot circumvent these locks without potentially violating copyright law. This can cause serious problems. penalty.
But change may be on the horizon.
The bill passed by Congress last year and is now being passed by the Senate is Revise the copyright law, legalize it Avoid digital locks with interoperability in mind.
both grain farmer And consumer advocates are watching it closely. Many people think that interoperability issues are right to repair An argument for companies to use proprietary technology to prevent customers from repairing products themselves.
Although companies claim they are doing so to protect copyright, critics say digital locks are used to stamp out competition and prevent rivals from developing new products that work with existing ones. It is claimed that
“Can I repair what I own? Can I buy a product that interoperates with what I own? These are fundamental freedoms,” says U.S.-based Right to Repair Advocate said Kyle Wiens, an expert and founder of the online repair service iFixit. guide.
iPhone and harvesting combine
“Interoperability” essentially means that one product or system can work together. another One.
Consider how Google Chrome works on Apple devices, even though it’s made by a different company.
Apple has also been criticized for this issue. For years, the company’s phones didn’t work with the USB-C connector, which is standard on many other devices. The situation has changed according to the European Union’s new regulations, which the company says will mandate one type of connector. ”inhibit innovation. ”
Interoperability is “very important” in agriculture, said farmer Chris Arum. Farmers often use a combination of different brands and tools to maximize price and efficiency, and these days it’s no surprise that one brand’s software will work with another. Not so, he said.
“Farmers, out of frustration, are buying two of the same brand and working together to make more money,” said Allam, who grows wheat, barley, canola and other crops on his farm east of Edmonton. I’m going to use it,” he said.
iFixit’s Wiens pointed to John Deere’s X-9 combine, a grain harvester.Combined, these are currently listed online for more than $ 1,000,000 Used products have digital ports that prevent use with non-John Deere appliances, he said. John Deere did not respond to requests for an interview.
“They are using [software] In an incredibly anti-competitive way. ”
But legally there is nothing to stop it.
The agricultural sector is a “typical example”
Farm equipment is not the only industry where interoperability is a concern. Interoperability is also a concern in areas such as: health care, car and game.
But “this is a great example of the scale and extent of the problem reaching areas that we don’t traditionally think of as computers,” said Anthony Rosborough, assistant professor of law and computer science at Dalhousie University. . Written on this issue for think tank Canada West Foundation.
The Canadian farm equipment manufacturing industry has about $2.4 billion in exports and $8 billion in annual revenue at stake, the newspaper said. canadian agricultural manufacturer.
The industry has developed by creating specialty products tailored to Canada’s crops and geography. These products are also attracting interest in countries in similar situations, such as Australia and Ukraine.
Exports to the United States are 2011 and 2021.
“These companies are very innovative, very creative, and they see the lack of interoperability as somewhat of a threat,” Schmeiser said. Members of the association sell combines and tractors, along with accessories and implements.
New bill aims to circumvent digital locks
The new legislation is expected to make it easier for Canadian businesses to deal with digital locks.
a invoice Cypress Hills-Grasslands MP Jeremy Patzer (Conservative) has created a new exception under copyright law.
If the technology in question was obtained legally, it would allow people to circumvent technological safeguards in order to make one device interoperable with another brand’s device.
Although the bill was written with the agriculture industry in mind, promoting interoperability would affect the “entire economy,” Patzer said.
“Anything that has to do with plug-and-play devices is going to have an impact on that.”
As more people choose to repair broken products rather than replace them, the Canadian government has suggested that a “right to repair” bill could be enacted to help consumers.
Wiens agrees.
He believes that current copyright laws inhibit innovation of all kinds. Whether it’s a new header that works with a third-party combine or a new ice maker that connects to a third-party refrigerator.
“We just don’t have those products right now.”
Technical ‘whack-a-mole’ still carries risks
There are also concerns that the federal bill won’t completely solve the problem.
While this should free Canadian manufacturers from the legal risks of reverse engineering their products to work with other brands, they still have to spend time and money trying to keep up with other companies’ software updates. will be spent.
“I haven’t been to jail, but I’m still spending $1.5 million of my company’s money to get this header to work on a combine,” said Scott Smith, Honey Bee’s component systems and integration manager. Ta.
“That combine is [mainline manufacturer] Then it will be undone and you will start over. So this is a technical game of whack-a-mole. ”
Smith would like to see a provincial law requiring farm equipment to be interoperable in order to be sold in Canada. existing law those that require a minimum guarantee.
Still, the company plans to celebrate if the bill passes the Senate.
“We’re very excited,” said Pegg, the company’s manager.
