i had my Z hooked to a laptop that let you tweak the chip while looking performance data in realtime maybe not break their copyright but it sure voids the warranty...
Posted on 04/27/2015 2:49:37 PM PDT by rickmichaels
In yet another lesson from the information industry, automakers are learning it is the software — not the hardware — that is the key to success in the digital age. He who controls the information, as Microsoft, Apple and Google have proven, controls the cash flow. What’s new, however, is that the latest battlefield in the information age isn't to be found in your computer or even your cherished cellphone, but underneath the hood of your car.
Autoblog.com recently revealed that the Auto Alliance — one of the industry’s main lobbying arms — is trying to prevent owners, the Do-It-Yourselfers of backyard legend, from tinkering with their cars. By considering the car as a “mobile computing device” under the 1996 Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), automakers are contending that allowing consumers and third parties to repair/alter the computational/information systems of their cars is not only unsafe, but violates their copyright protections. Essentially, the automakers are saying “we own the rights to the software, we don’t think you’re smart enough to fix it, so only we — or somebody we designate — should be allowed to work on your automobile.”
(Excerpt) Read more at driving.ca ...
So what about the people who live in states where it’s legal to rip out all of the electronic junk and replace it with old fashioned V-8 engines and etc?
Can you get sued because you REMOVE the junk?
Hey, I bought it, I’ll do what I want with it.
Unfortunately I haven’t had a car built since 1978 that I could figure out how to work on, after they added all the gee whiz stuff like turbo supercharging air conditioning and anything with computers.
Linux, Jailbreak, OpenSource.
Reverse engineering.
CDs, DVDs, Taping off of FM.
Copyright applies if you want to sell, or make profit from something. Not if you just make a copy.
I can surely see the profit motivation (detailed more in the source article). Guess we will go ‘underground’. But then at smog check time, will a flag indicate ‘unauthorized access has been performed’?
Longing for pre-technology.
i had my Z hooked to a laptop that let you tweak the chip while looking performance data in realtime maybe not break their copyright but it sure voids the warranty...
The technology already exists to severly restrict the upgrade of firmware (ala PS3). Auto makers could implement this technology in future cars if they wanted. The problem is the cost. They do not want to add a couple hundred dollars to the cost of EVERY SINGLE VEHICLE.
They just want the extra $$ for the cars that do want to mod.
I stopped working on my own cars after I could no longer look down thru the engine compartment...and see the ground.
My first car may well be a 64 Fairlane....
As for criminalising the REPAIR of automobiles? AW HELL NO!!
*grabs shotgun*
Looks like an opportunity for some young entrepreneurs to create open source code to replace the crap software routines of the auto industry.
Replace the computers with something the public can actually own.
What we’ve been seeing, is propaganda to propagate a general inhibition in the population against owner repairs. Notice the extreme frequency and occurrences of repetition of the fake “news.”
Most “news” is now sponsored by plutocrats who want to inject their own pathologies into the general population (queerism, feminism, etc.) and to cut off potential business competition.
As for computers in vehicles, there are open source projects and even projects to swap computer components and peripherals out for distributed analog parts.
In the future, lowtechs will rule.
I have a 2010 F150 that I changed tire size from stock to 35”, I went to ford to get my speedo and traction control callibrated, they told me they can only do it for standard option tires from the factory. Could I then sue them if I got a speeding ticket since they refused to calibrate their “software” since they are implying it is ok for an owner to mechanically modify the vehicle. Good thing my programmer is on order so I can change the speedo and also calibrate/disable the nanny systems especially when im off road.
One of the things I would tweak on my Chevy is the option to turn the back up camera on any time I want instead of just when I’m backing up.
91 Dodge Cummins D250 truck. No computer, nuttin’ electronic. Bring on the EMP. It’ll run on diesel, kerosine, cooking oil, jet-a, whatever. Mechanical injector pump...etc. We don’t need no stinkin’ computers! Screw the manufacturer dudes.
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