DarrenGT

So it's the big auto makers who are pushing for this kind of restriction? They pay lobbyists to try to get the laws put in place?
-is it because of warranty claims?

Music man in Pcola

I like my car. I will resist the efforts of the U.S. government to intrude on my privacy. The government should have to PROVE that whatever modification we choose to use is, indeed, something either unsafe, or not in the best interests of the public. I sincerely hope that I can continue to enjoy my car, hobby, and all other thing that belong to me. If not...then I will...

Dinosoar

But that should not be up to the manufacturers to keep it safe. The U.S. Government regulates that already (quite heavily in comparison to other markets abroad) . I do see this as the manufacturers wanting to control (i.e., sole profiteer) the aftermarket. Mustang stands to be hit hardest by this. I too agree the copyright angle won't work, but this is apparently plan B and you know there'll be a plan C, and so on.

Heavily copyrighted intellectual property rights owners (big retail name brands, music, movies) could not make this (change YOUR OWN copy) happen, so the car manufacturers won't either, but they won't give up I don't imagine. That's what worries me. I also agree the small voting group us modders are won't sway the law, but I hope the aftermarket vendors work this out to our benefit. It'll be an interesting fight if it picks up any steam.

houtex

Ok, here's why this is bad (from the Manufacturer's standpoint):

Guy goes and modifies his car's computer to play around with it. He messes with the throttle response.

Guy goes out, his throttle goes stupid, he isn't skilled enough to know what to do, and boom he drives off a cliff/into a mountain/oncoming semi.

Before you say "Aw, that ain't gonna happen..." Yeah, tell that to that Lexus driver who killed himself and the occupants for an accelerator issue and didn't know what to do, just kept on driving and accelerating until he couldn't make a turn.

Toyota had to do a LOT of work (and it's still ongoing) to fix this problem permanently. (Long story short... they modified pedals, require *all* floor mats to be tethered to the seat track, and made the computer automatically chop the throttle when the brake is applied, regardless of the throttle pedal's position. In other words... they made it better for a dumber driver. )

So guy wrecks, dies and a bunch of other people get hurt/killed too.

Wives, husbands, and relatives find out he played with the car. "BUT THEY SHOULDN'T HAVE LET HIM BE ABLE TO DO THIS RABBLE RABBLE WE SUE YOU GTOYFORCHRYBMOTM!!"

THAT is the deal. And I'm not terribly inclined to take the SEMA or EFF's stance on this, to be honest. For the same reasoning is why Cessna, Piper and a few others nearly went out of the airplane business, for that kind of liability for a *52 year old airplane* being their liability. The case did cause them to stop making light aircraft for a while. Go look it up.

Yes, it's a little bit apples and oranges, but the point remains. There ought to be some stuff you can't play with without authorization and knowledge.

But then again.. the simple thing is to say "Do it, and we wash our hands of the entire dang car, even the speakers. You are on your own." Or, "It's out of warranty, we are no longer going to be liable for a **** THING."

That should be the decision here.

3point7

Frankly I agree with this. As much as it concerns me that they are trying to backdoor car owners with this DMCA angle I also agree that when you decide to start messing around with anything on your car be it mechanical or software that the manufacturer should have a right to say "Fine, you want to play with your toy? It's not good enough as is? Zero warranty! You just assumed full responsibility. Don't come crying to us." That's the risk you take if you want to play the mod game. It's part of the reason my Mustang is still stock.

jsaylor

A few folks connected to the industry have already suggested that this is what the automakers actually want out of this push, for the law to state that if you modify the car at all, at least in the area of things that touch major components, they have no liability for the car whatsoever moving forward. The argument being that this is just their road to actually get there.