Right-to-Repair Law To Get DRM Out of Your Car

eldavojohn writes "Ralph Nader's back to hounding the automotive industry ... but it's not about safety this time, it's about the pesky DRM in your car. Most cars have a UART in them that allows you to read off diagnostic codes and information about what may be wrong with the vehicle so you can repair it. Late model cars have been getting increasingly complex and dependent on computers which has caused them, as with most things digital, to move towards a proprietary DRM for these tools, diagnostic codes and updated repair information. This has kept independent auto-shops out of the market for fixing your car and relegating you to depend on pricier dealers to get your automotive ailments cured. The bill still has a provision to protect trade secrets but is a step forward to open up the codes and tools necessary to keep your car running."

Comments

Re:Prediction

[The Grim Reefer2]

Me too. The Corvair was a cool little car, especially if you dropped a 350 in it. Unsafe at any speed my ass.

Re:Prediction

[secretplans]

Nadar is not responsible for the failures of the Democratic Party.

Neither are those of us who voted for honesty.

Nadar '12.

Re:Prediction

[interkin3tic]

Don't blame Nader, blame your lousy voting system that discourages a third party from forming.

I do, but the guys who came up with that are all dead. Nader isn't. Yet.

Be Prepared

[sexconker]

Trees are teh awesome.

now that's just dumb

[ClioCJS]

You're going to blame the 500 people who voted independent, while ignoring the millions who voted republican? As if those 500 votes somehow counted more? Nope. You should look to the 120,000 democrats who voted for Bush in florida. Every Nader vote could have gone to Gore, but the Democrats who voted Republican still would have fucked up up. and you know why? Because they're paying to the 2-party "system". (Which doesn't actually exist, because THERE WERE MORE THAN 2 PARTIES ON THE BALLOT!)

Ironically, the mentality you are carrying today in 2009 is far more responsible for what happened in 2000, than those who have gotten past your mentality. YOUR mentality is what held us back in 2000.