Posted on 04/20/2015 8:34:32 PM PDT by Rusty0604
Automakers are supporting provisions in copyright law that could prohibit home mechanics and car enthusiasts from repairing and modifying their own vehicles.
Allowing them to continue to fix their cars has become "legally problematic," according to a written statement from the Auto Alliance, the main lobbying arm of automakers.
The dispute arises from a section of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act that no one thought could apply to vehicles when it was signed into law in 1998. But now, in an era where cars are rolling computing platforms, the U.S. Copyright Office is examining whether provisions of the law that protect intellectual property should prohibit people from modifying and tuning their cars.
Aftermarket suppliers and home enthusiasts have been modifying ECUs for years without dire consequences. By tweaking the ECU codes, ...they've boosted horsepower, improved fuel efficiency, established performance limits for teen drivers and enhanced countless other features. These innovations have contributed to a "decades-old tradition of mechanical curiosity and self-reliance," according to the EFF.
Those innovations could be curbed precisely at a time that automakers believe personalization of vehicles is emerging as a significant trend. Software is allowing for all sorts of technology, such as 4G LTE wireless connections, and motorists can use this software to choose from an increasing array of infotainment options. But the car companies, paradoxically, want to be the ones doing the personalizing.
The EFF thinks the industry's desire to block exemptions has more to do with profits than safety. As software becomes easier to update, automakers could sell these performance upgrades on an a la carte basis. Because a favorable ruling would strengthen their control of the software, the car companies could potentially force consumers to only have their vehicles fixed at their dealerships or preferred repair shops.
(Excerpt) Read more at autoblog.com ...
All I gotta say is that those manufacturers are IDIOTS!
Bow down to the rentiers. I’m sure they have plenty of support in FR land.
You can pay 40K for that car, but you can’t tinker with or fix it.
They can kiss my a$$. I’ll just buy a classic with a real carburetor...
You think?
They can go F themselves.
If that’s true then no one should be allowed to do covers of songs or Karaoke.
My 2008 Saturn Aura just had its front wheel bearings replaced by our neighborhood car guy. Great job adn much less expensive than if I ahd a dealer do it — or even a “repair shop.”
It’s crazy!
That’s un-American.
Screw GM. Rip out the OEM computer and deal with an aftermarket company that will sell one without copyright protection.
More emasculation of American men...they want guys to all be barista’s with skinny pants serving frappafukachino’s.
Very much so. I bet the gov’t would just love to send SWAT teams in to bust into a guy’s garage for fixing his own car.
Understand, may void your warranty, outcome not guaranteed, must disclose to buyer, blah blah... but making it illegal? As in, Break down your door, shoot your dog and haul you away in handcuffs illegal? Why?
They truly are idiots.
Before this point there wasn’t much being done to manufacture a generic brain that could replace the chip in any car with functional but somewhat different software.
They are throwing down a gauntlet they will be helpless to unthrow.
ECM went out on my 02 Dodge....450 for a rebuilt...700 for a dealer. My next truck will be a non-millennial. Preferably 70’s vintage.
i might go back to that as well. these car run in cuba, still. not that i care a wit about cuba just sayin. i used to tune my carburetors.
What a bunch of crap
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