Washington Insider-- Friday

By DTN's Washington Insider

Here's a quick monitor of Washington farm and trade policy issues from DTN's well-placed observer.

Energy Chairman Murkowski Proposes to Lift U.S. Oil Export Ban

Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, and Democratic Sen. Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota (along with 11 other Republican senators) this week introduced legislation that would repeal the 40-year-old ban on U.S. crude oil exports.

Murkowski and other proponents of lifting the ban –– which was put in place in the wake of the Arab oil embargo in the 1970s –– say the ban no longer is relevant given surging domestic oil production. Most of the major U.S. oil companies support Murkowski's bill, which could be the subject of a committee hearing as early as June 4.

However, a number of smaller oil refiners and U.S. airline companies are concerned that lifting the export ban would raise domestic oil price, thus making them less able to meet foreign competition. Indeed, the possibility that allowing U.S. oil to be exported could drive up the cost of gasoline appears likely to drive some members of Congress away from the proposal.

Still others question whether the United States, as the world's second-largest oil importer, should be getting into the oil exporting business in the first place.

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Organic Trade Association Proposes New Checkoff Program

The Organic Trade Association is calling on USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) to move forward on the association's proposed checkoff program that focuses on research and promotion of organic food and products. The organization claims that its proposed program, called the GRO Organic (Generic Research and Promotion Order for Organic), could raise more than $30 million annually for the promotion of organic products.

Under the OTA proposal, checkoff funds would be collected all along the supply chain, including growers, processors, certifiers, distributors, importers, exporters and retailers. Most assessments would be calculated based on net organic sales, with businesses making $250,000 or less given the opportunity to opt out of the program. Under a new provision of the 2014 farm bill, organic producers have the option of contributing either to an organic checkoff program or to an already-established checkoff for their particular crop.

AMS currently oversees more than 20 checkoff programs. The process for approving the new checkoff program requires the agency to review OTA's proposal and publish the checkoff program in the Federal Register, followed by a public comment period, before organic stakeholders would vote on its adoption. If enough qualified organic producers approve of the new checkoff, AMS then would take the necessary steps to establish it. If nothing else, an organic checkoff will give the industry the funds necessary for an educational program to explain to consumers just what is, and what is not, "organic."

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Washington Insider: Copyright and Property Laws

Our modern agriculture involves so much technology these days that there is seldom a time when one ownership dispute or another is not grabbing headlines. Recently, a new dispute erupted on social media involving who owns what in tractors — a machine you might think has been around long enough to have outgrown such conflicts.

The most recent fight was kicked off by an op-ed piece that appeared online from the magazine "Wired" titled "We Can't Let John Deere Destroy the Very Idea of Ownership." It concerned the software that makes that tractor run as intended.

The article was written by Kyle Wiens, who is characterized as part of a refurbish-and-repair industry that is fighting with manufacturers over possible changes in copyright law.

The "Wired" article charges that Deere and other companies such as General Motors don't want to allow people to own the machinery or vehicles they buy, but instead want to license that equipment to buyers for restricted uses. Wiens apparently wrote a similar article last year about cellphones and cars.

The Deere article went viral, so to speak, on social media such as Twitter, as farmers and others raised the notion that Deere might file copyright claims against them. Barry Nelson, a spokesman for John Deere, then joined in to make it clear that "… Deere customers own the equipment they purchase from us."

However, he notes that as with automobiles, personal computers, cellphones and other technology, "owning a piece of machinery does not grant someone the right to copy, modify or distribute computer code that is now embedded in all of these daily items."

That technology on a tractor has several different purposes such as safety, performance and standards such as meeting emission requirements. "We do try to make sure through our dealers and customers to read diagnostics and do anything they need to do for repairs that need to happen," Nelson said.

But taking out computer chips or software from tractors and selling those is illegal, he reminds — much like buying a book and then copying and selling it. "If you buy a book, you don't have the right to copy the book, modify the book or send copies to other people," Nelson said.

Then, it gets technical. As DTN earlier reported, the piece published on "Wired" was based on comments Deere filed was in response to the U.S. Copyright Office request for comments on proposals for possible exemptions or modifications to allow for changes in technology. This year, the Copyright Office has listed 27 different proposed classes which are being considered for new exemptions under the law.

Deere and other vehicle manufacturers had focused comments on one of the proposed class of copyright exemptions being considered that involves vehicle software, diagnosis, repair or modification. The proposal would allow people to circumvent copyright protections for computer programs in vehicles for "diagnosis, repair or aftermarket personalization, modification or other improvement." The exemption would be allowed when agreed upon by the lawful owner of the vehicle, such as a tractor or combine.

Deere argues that there are already diagnostic codes available for repair without violating the company's copyrights — and, that the proposed change "will make it possible for pirates, third-party developers, and less innovative competitors to free-ride off the creativity of vehicle software designed by "leading vehicle manufactures and their suppliers." Deere noted proponents of changes in the rule are largely tinkerers and hobbyists who wish to modify software to their choosing.

Deere also commented that owners of a vehicle doesn't acquire the copyrights to the software and are not the "owners" of the vehicle's software with which they are free to do as they please. Those electronic programs are licensed to the person who buys the vehicle, not owned to modify them.

So, this seems to be one more round regarding a complicated topic for buyers of almost every modern technology, as noted by Omaha, Neb., attorney David Domina, who has raised issues in the past about the ownership and licensing agreements for other farm inputs such as seeds. He notes that seed bags contain detailed licensing agreements restricting how the buyer may or may not use the seeds and said this is a similar circumstance regarding software.

Copyright law is nothing if not complicated. Technology producers work hard to protect their investment — just as producers pay for these systems and expect they will boost returns. Still, such complications demand vigilance on both sides and are essential for the productivity that increasingly defines modern agriculture, Washington Insider believes.

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(GH/CZ)

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