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Working On Your Own Car Illegal

Is anyone following the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) in regards to the auto industry?.

  • Yes

    Votes: 6 37.5%

  • No

    Votes: 10 62.5%
  • Total voters
    16
B

BrianRosenthal

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This entire issue has been totally misrepresented. I did a little digging and found that the motor companies are not asking for any changes.

Some time ago, Ford sued a company that subverted the copy protection on a car's computer and downloaded the code so they could improve their own product.

The DMCA states that if there is copy protection in place, it's illegal to defeat it, so Ford sued.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation took up the cause and has asked for an exception be made to allow downloading the code from car computers in spite of the fact that they admit it isn't necessary if you only need the diagnostic codes.

This isn't about an individual working on their own car - this is about making an exception that would effectively remove the right for motor companies to protect their code. As a software engineer, I understand why they want to protect the investment they have made and the potential for disaster if someone starts to modify and use that code with proper knowledge and testing capabilities.

This is, of course, my own interpretation of what I have found - discussion welcome.
 
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satx

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BrianRosenthal said:
This entire issue has been totally misrepresented. I did a little digging and found that the motor companies are not asking for any changes.
Click to expand...

Being on the road with drunk and/or raging drivers is bad enough.

Being on the road with cars whose SOFTWARE (de-compiled,undocumented binary code) has been modified (why?) by auto MECHANIC hackers is a risk.

America is now, and is ever more becoming a dystopia where the 1% suck wealth from the 99%: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rentier_capitalism
 
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'lio

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BrianRosenthal said:
This entire issue has been totally misrepresented. I did a little digging and found that the motor companies are not asking for any changes.

Some time ago, Ford sued a company that subverted the copy protection on a car's computer and downloaded the code so they could improve their own product.

The DMCA states that if there is copy protection in place, it's illegal to defeat it, so Ford sued.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation took up the cause and has asked for an exception be made to allow downloading the code from car computers in spite of the fact that they admit it isn't necessary if you only need the diagnostic codes.

This isn't about an individual working on their own car - this is about making an exception that would effectively remove the right for motor companies to protect their code. As a software engineer, I understand why they want to protect the investment they have made and the potential for disaster if someone starts to modify and use that code with proper knowledge and testing capabilities.

This is, of course, my own interpretation of what I have found - discussion welcome.
Click to expand...

You are right. The efforts are by groups such as the EFF, to prevent car makers from using the copyright protections against consumers, where it would curtail the consumers rights. Most articles do not fully represent the issue.

The Renault case is an example of what car companies can get away with if the law lets them, for example threaten to shut off your car remotely, or to lock you, or people you might sell your vehicle to, into contract situations that basically prevent you from ever owning your car outright. Somewhat like an leasing agreement, where you just own the shell of the car, but the car company can control many aspects of operating the car forever.

Protecting the copyright is one thing, to use it against the best interest of the public another. I am all for copyright, but not if it allows manufacturers to do things that copyright law wasn't intended for. Contrary to what many think, this is also not at all related to traffic safety, as there are already many laws regulating that.
 
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satx

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Brave New Tractor: John Deere And General Motors Pretty Sure They Own All Your Stuff

John Deere and General Motors want to eviscerate the notion of ownership. Sure, we pay for their vehicles. But we don’t own them. Not according to their corporate lawyers, anyway […]

Because computer code snakes through the DNA of modern tractors, farmers receive “an implied license for the life of the vehicle to operate the vehicle.”

Owners, tinkerers, and homebrew “hackers” must copy programming so they can modify it. Product makers don’t like people messing with their stuff, so some manufacturers place digital locks over software. Breaking the lock, making the copy, and changing something could be construed as a violation of copyright law.

And that’s how manufacturers turn tinkerers into “pirates” — even if said “pirates” aren’t circulating illegal copies of anything.

Read more at http://wonkette.com/583917/brave-ne...e-you-dont-own-your-stuff#2yRLUs4J0L8UOlyJ.99

the "mfr owns YOUR machine's unmodifiable software forever" looks to becoming standard policy.
 
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