Auto manufacturers in the USA are pushing to make it a copyright infringement for home mechanics and car enthusiasts from repairing or modifying their own vehicles.
The lobbying arm of the manufacturers filed comments with the U.S. copyright office which is reviewing provisions of a 1998 law called the Digital Millennium Copyright Act to see if they can be applied to vehicles. They say people trying to fix their own cars is becoming “legally problematic”.
The issue is that car electronics have become extraordinarily complex and control all aspect of the vehicle including steering, braking and throttle response. Tinkering with these systems “leads to an imbalance by which the negative consequences far outweigh any suggested benefits,” according to the lobbying arm called the Alliance of Global Automakers.
If the body rules in favor of the OEM’s, it could mean they could force customers to repair their vehicles only at dealerships or authorized garages. It’s a situation that would give nightmares to millions of car enthusiasts.
The body is expected to rule this summer but fret not, Canadians (at least not yet). The ruling wouldn’t affect Canada directly although you could be sure if the US decided to enforce this type of copyright, it wouldn’t take long before Canada took up the matter as well.
Source: Autoblog
