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EFF Fighting Automakers Over Whether You Own Your Car

Posted by Soulskill on from the what's-yours-is-ours dept.

An anonymous reader writes: The Digital Millennium Copyright Act contains anti-circumvention prohibitions that affect everything from music files to cell phones. The EFF noticed that it could apply to cars as well, so they asked for an exemption to be put in place so car owners would be free to inspect and modify the code running on their vehicles. It turns out U.S. automakers don't agree — they filed opposition comments through trade associations. "They say you shouldn't be allowed to repair your own car because you might not do it right. They say you shouldn't be allowed to modify the code in your car because you might defraud a used car purchaser by changing the mileage. They say no one should be allowed to even look at the code without the manufacturer's permission because letting the public learn how cars work could help malicious hackers, "third-party software developers" (the horror!), and competitors. John Deere even argued that letting people modify car computer systems will result in them pirating music through the on-board entertainment system, which would be one of the more convoluted ways to copy media (and the exemption process doesn't authorize copyright infringement, anyway)."

5 of 292 comments (clear)

  1. If i can't work on my car by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    If I can't work on my car, I will not buy it. Same with my computer.

    1. Re:If i can't work on my car by mi · · Score: 5, Insightful

      And you think that they auto makers aren't doing that deliberately?

      No, they don't do it deliberately.

      But they deliberately do not not do it either — that is, they don't care to make it easier for you to fix your car or find spare parts.

      One thing, that prevents manufacturers from going completely bonkers with a design, is the cost of insurance — if a model is too hard (read "expensive") to fix, your insurance will rise, and smarter consumers — whether they do the repairs themselves or not — take it into consideration before buying. But, being able to do repairs — hardware or software — just is not a factor to most people. Or else Apple's products would never have reached the popularity they now enjoy.

      And also, going bonkers with a design is what many people want — Corollas, for example, are very easy to repair (or were 10 years ago). They are still a great model, but I like my Quattro better :)

      --
      In Soviet Washington the swamp drains you.
  2. Seriously? by grimmjeeper · · Score: 5, Insightful

    They say you shouldn't be allowed to repair your own car because you might not do it right

    They say that as if the dealers can do it right. Apparently they've never been to a dealer to get their car serviced.

  3. I tried to raise this issue before... by ckatko · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I tried to raise this issue before... with the Tesla auto-updating your cars firmware without asking the owner of the car first, and how that means they can literally put anything in there without your consent. (NSA GPS tracking anyone?)

    Everyone was too busy going "OMG TESLA RULEZ" to care. (A great car sure, but that doesn't mean we need another Apple walled-garden.)

  4. They are welding the hood shut! by Gim+Tom · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I remember when the standard analogy comparing open source to proprietary software was, "Would you buy a car with the hood welded shut?" Sound to me like they are wanting to weld the hood shut.