This week the government issued an
exemption to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) to allow the
modification of automotive electronics systems. You might not know
it, but this has far reaching effects on the entire automotive
industry and on you as the owner of a car. I’ll show you why.
You walk into a Barnes & Noble, you
pick up a copy of Look Me in the Eye, you hand the cashier
money and you leave the store. The book now belongs to you, right? Of
course it does. You are free to write notes in the margins, sell it
second-hand to a friend, or even rip it up if you felt so inclined.
What you can’t do is copy portions of it and claim them as your own
work; you own your copy of the book, but not the copyright.
This is pretty straightforward and
doesn’t violate most people’s understanding of copyright and
ownership. But let's say you skipped the Barnes & Noble and instead
went to Walmart to buy a Sony PS3, is it any different? Actually it
is. When the PS3 was released, many tech enthusiasts were eager to
buy such a powerful computer for such a low price, despite it
masquerading as a gaming machine. They would install Linux on their
PS3 and use it as a desktop computer. To their dismay, Sony responded
with lawsuits claiming copyright violation. Under the DMCA
corporations have gained sweeping powers to effectively retain
ownership even after the item has been sold. Apple has given the same
treatment to iPhone owners who have had the audacity to try to
install software that Apple hasn’t personally signed off on, i.e.
iPhone owners who "jailbreak" their phones.
Copyright has gone far beyond what its
original intent was, and beyond how most people understand it to
work. Instead of being used to prevent copying, it is now also
used to prevent modification – even if there is no
commercial angle to the modification and the only purpose is better
satisfying the wants of the owner. Maybe taking notes in the margin
of your favorite book isn’t so clearly legal after all; the fact
that such an argument could be made demonstrates the ridiculousness
of the DMCA and how it hurts customers.
Auto manufacturers have exploited the
you-own-what-you-buy-except-for-when-we-don’t-like-how-you-use-it
DMCA too. Want to reprogram your engine ECU? You might be violating
the DMCA. Really, any work done on the electronics in a car risks
violating the DMCA. This exposed tinkerers and independent shops
alike to a tremendous risk, leaving official dealerships as the only
safe route for these repairs. But fret not, all of that changed this
past Tuesday. In a first, the government has issued an exception to
the DMCA to explicitly allow tinkering with automotive electronics
and software.
So what pushed the government to do
this? In large part it was the recent VW scandal. The Electronic
Frontier Foundation (EFF) argued that the DMCA had prevented independent
shops and tinkerers from testing and identifying VW’s deception for
years – and the government listened. That said, it’s a real shame
that it takes a very public deception being uncovered to change the
law. And it begs the question- how much deception, negligence, and
incompetence is still being covered up in all of the areas without a
DMCA exemption? Don’t expect an answer, because as the EFF has
pointed out the DMCA has a chilling effect on security research.
Researchers of both the academic and DIY types steer clear of looking
for such problems because by finding them they may violate the DMCA
and come under legal pressure. That means the only major effort to
root out security vulnerabilities and misrepresentations is under the
table, and the hackers doing such work don’t tend to have the good
of the public in mind.
The exemption on Tuesday is a great
start, but in the grand scheme it is a mere baby step. The DMCA is
preventing you from having products that you can trust. And it is
quite telling how many corporations view their customers when they
pursue unpaid volunteers trying to fix their mistakes. You’d think
they’d be happy such people are out there. To be sure, some
corporations are – but the good guys don’t have the same lobbying
power. And that’s because the supporters of the DMCA view their
customers as their own assets, as subjects who are only allowed to
play with the toys they’ve bought within the officially sanctioned
sandbox. I hope the trend reverses, but we’re going to need to
expose deception, negligence, or the more benign incompetence in far
more areas than the automotive industry alone.
We strive for the highest quality of
repair. Our customers are the owners of their cars, not the
manufacturers. This exemption helps both our customers and us; it
explicitly clarifies that when you go to get your car repaired all
you should be thinking about is the quality of work you’re going to
receive. The car’s previous owner, the manufacturer, or anyone else
has no place putting themselves in the middle of that. We rely on
satisfying the wants of our customers to the greatest extent that is
possible, and maintaining good communications throughout the process.
You thought you owned your car before, now thanks to this exemption
you actually do. This change puts the choice of who works on your
car back where it should be – completely in your hands.
~guest blogger: Jack Robison
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