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Business Title: GM, Ford, And Others Want to Make Working on Your Own Car Illegal One of the inherent rights of owning a vehicle is the ability to get on ones backside a wrench in one hand and a grease rag in the other, and just tinker to your little hearts desire. Since the vehicle was invented, its been an important facet within the community of gearheads. General Motors the same company responsible for 87 deaths related to faulty ignition switches, FYI wants to take that right away from you citing safety and security issues. Along with a few other big names. Its called the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). Its been around since 2000 and started as anti-Internet piracy legislation. But automakers want to use it to try and make working on your own car illegal. Yes, illegal. The general premise is that unlike cars of the past, todays vehicles are so advanced and use such a large amount of software and coding in their general makeup, altering said code could be dangerous and possibly even malicious. Listing the vehicle as a mobile computing device, the law would hypothetically protect automakers from pesky owners looking to alter any sort of technology in the vehicle that relates to the onboard computer. Flashing your ECU would be a big no no, which could also lead to all sorts of problems for aftermarket shops. What GM, and even tractor companies like John Deere, argues is that you, as an owner, dont actually own your car. Rather, youre sort of just borrowing it for an extended amount of time and paying for the rights to use the technology. If it sounds ridiculous it is. But it gets even more ludicrous. According to the Electronic Frontier Foundation, John Deere argued that letting people modify car computer systems will result in them pirating music through the on-board entertainment system. Thats right pirating music. Through a tractor. DMCA does give a little bit of leeway, though. While the act could hypothetically lock customers out of key safety features, it would still allow owners the ability to repair other areas of the vehicles onboard computer as they see fit. Its a slim compromise, but one that may be more closely based in reality. As it currently sits, there are 13 (!) large automakers on the list supporting the DMCA. Want to know who they are? Of course you do: General Motors Company Ironically, one of the brands that relies most on technology in its vehicles Tesla Motors in not in support of DMCA. While other American companies like GM, Ford and Chrysler all agree that working on your own vehicle should be punishable by law. Funny how three brands that pride themselves on American ingenuity dont want customers to work on their cars.
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#11. To: Willie Green (#0)
Thanks for that list of companies supporting this
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