DRM in Your Car's Engine
DRM in Your Car's Engine
May 20, 2009
GamePolitics readers are familiar with the Digital Rights Management controversy which marred the release of Will Wright's long-awaited Spore last year.
But DRM and the consumer-unfriendly Digital Millenium Copyright Act are apparently concerns for drivers as well as gamers.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation reports that a proposal before Congress would allow independent auto repair shops to break the DRM which currently locks them out of your car's diagnostic computer:
The Right-To-Repair Act of 2009 (H.R. 2057)... points to a much bigger consumer issue... One underlying legal problem here is the DMCA, which prohibits bypassing or circumventing "technological protection measures..."
And the issue goes beyond the importance of being able to get independent repair and maintenance services. The use of technological "locks" against tinkerers also threatens "user innovation" -- the kinds of innovation that traditionally have come from independent tinkerers -- which has increasingly been recognized as an important part of economic growth and technological improvement...
In short, thanks to the DMCA, we need a Right-To-Repair Act not just for cars, but increasingly for all the things we own.
Via: boing boing
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Posted 11/20/09 at 05:42pm
ZippyDSMlee: oh may the cute stab out your eyes, http://www.youtube.com/user/simonscat
ZippyDSMlee: oh may the cute stab out your eyes, http://www.youtube.com/user/simonscat
Posted 11/20/09 at 05:17pm
JDKJ: O.K. Suit yourself. But when you're wearing Ray-Bans, sitting on a curb with a white cane and a cup of pencils, and doing Stevie Wonder impersonations, don't say I didn't warn you.
JDKJ: O.K. Suit yourself. But when you're wearing Ray-Bans, sitting on a curb with a white cane and a cup of pencils, and doing Stevie Wonder impersonations, don't say I didn't warn you.
Posted 11/20/09 at 05:10pm
ZippyDSMlee: JD:No thank you I don;t want your cooties...or STDs...
ZippyDSMlee: JD:No thank you I don;t want your cooties...or STDs...
Posted 11/20/09 at 05:01pm
JDKJ: Me. I'm rehearsing the role just in case I do get dubbed Zippy The Soecnda.
JDKJ: Me. I'm rehearsing the role just in case I do get dubbed Zippy The Soecnda.
Posted 11/20/09 at 04:59pm
DarkSaber: Wait, is that meant to be Zippy, me or you?
DarkSaber: Wait, is that meant to be Zippy, me or you?
Posted 11/20/09 at 04:49pm
JDKJ: I cud caer lez. =^^= *wakes up in mid-afternoon after staying up until 3:00AM soldering resistors on to circuit boards, stumbles around in formerly white but now grey underwear, while simultaneously scratching groin with vigor and making coffee*
JDKJ: I cud caer lez. =^^= *wakes up in mid-afternoon after staying up until 3:00AM soldering resistors on to circuit boards, stumbles around in formerly white but now grey underwear, while simultaneously scratching groin with vigor and making coffee*
Posted 11/20/09 at 04:46pm
DarkSaber: knell? Don't you mean Neil? Anymore of tht and I'll dub thee Zippy The Soecnda
DarkSaber: knell? Don't you mean Neil? Anymore of tht and I'll dub thee Zippy The Soecnda
Posted 11/20/09 at 04:44pm
JDKJ: Now, now, Saber. Don't be salty. You weren't the first one to knell and bob and you ain't gonna be the last one, either.
JDKJ: Now, now, Saber. Don't be salty. You weren't the first one to knell and bob and you ain't gonna be the last one, either.
Posted 11/20/09 at 04:42pm
DarkSaber: JD's feeling rather desperate it seems.
DarkSaber: JD's feeling rather desperate it seems.
Posted 11/20/09 at 04:33pm
JDKJ: C'mon, Zip. You already touch yourself way too much. Spread the love. Before you go blind.
JDKJ: C'mon, Zip. You already touch yourself way too much. Spread the love. Before you go blind.
Posted 11/20/09 at 04:27pm
ZippyDSMlee: JD:No and I ain't touching any part of you or your friends!! :P
ZippyDSMlee: JD:No and I ain't touching any part of you or your friends!! :P
Posted 11/20/09 at 04:25pm
JDKJ: @Zip: You know Lik Mitaint?
JDKJ: @Zip: You know Lik Mitaint?
Posted 11/20/09 at 04:18pm
ZippyDSMlee: neill and bob,oldest giveing head joke and most lamest...
ZippyDSMlee: neill and bob,oldest giveing head joke and most lamest...
Posted 11/20/09 at 04:18pm
JDKJ: But thanks for the memory. MIB's a classic. *sings* "Here come the Men in Black. Galaxy defenders. Here come the Men in Black. They won't let you remember."
JDKJ: But thanks for the memory. MIB's a classic. *sings* "Here come the Men in Black. Galaxy defenders. Here come the Men in Black. They won't let you remember."
Posted 11/20/09 at 04:18pm
ZippyDSMlee: JD:for the record I told you you can suck your own dck.
ZippyDSMlee: JD:for the record I told you you can suck your own dck.
Posted 11/20/09 at 04:07pm
JDKJ: Naw, man. That's Mueedeegiaap and Bob. And you can stop bobbing. I got Zippy bobbing now, too.
JDKJ: Naw, man. That's Mueedeegiaap and Bob. And you can stop bobbing. I got Zippy bobbing now, too.
Posted 11/20/09 at 03:56pm
DarkSaber: OH I get it now! It's Men In Black quote! The twins that run the comm centre in HQ.
DarkSaber: OH I get it now! It's Men In Black quote! The twins that run the comm centre in HQ.
Posted 11/20/09 at 03:49pm
JDKJ: I'd like to introduce you to them. First, Neil. Then, Bob.
JDKJ: I'd like to introduce you to them. First, Neil. Then, Bob.
Posted 11/20/09 at 03:47pm
ZippyDSMlee: JD:I know they are intimate friends of yours...
ZippyDSMlee: JD:I know they are intimate friends of yours...
Posted 11/20/09 at 03:44pm
JDKJ: @Zip: You know Neil and Bob?
JDKJ: @Zip: You know Neil and Bob?
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Comments
Will the horror ever end?
Hey that sounds like a great idea. Perhaps we can get a "Right to Patch Act", in which we are allowed to break DRM on games in order to patch bugs ourselves.
Maybe we could follow it up with the "Right To Backup Act", in which we have the right to create and use backups of our media.
Eventually if we get enough of these acts we may even be able to convince the government to repeal the DMCA.
But we all know what will happen. Some committee that is in the pocket of the Media industry will deny this bill and state that auto repair shops have to go through the same inane process of begging for a three year exception like the rest of us.
E. Zachary Knight
Oklahoma City Chapter of the ECA
http://www.theeca.com/chapters_oklahoma
Sigh, I wish this wasn't true.
~~All Knowledge is Worth Having~~
Accept and Embrace it you rent you don't own.
Damn right!! Lock 'em out!! I would too, if I was Enzo Ferrari. If you don't, next thing you know is that there'll be an F430 sitting on four cinder blocks in some idiot's driveway for months with the engine lid gaping open, ruining the resale value of F430s everywhere. Lock 'em out!!
There's DRM in cars now? When did this happened?
http://www.magicinkgaming.com/
Since Diagnostic Computers became the way to 'fix' cars.
--------------------------------------------------
I LIKE the fence. I get 2 groups to laugh at then.
I thought in the US monopoly situations were illegal? I am sorry, but when we down own the shit we flat out buy... I think it is about time for anarcy. Let the US fail, let the companies fail, we need to build it all from scratch again.
Nido Web Flash Tutorials AS2 and AS3 Tutorials for anyone interested.
How to set Xbox 360 Parental Controls
So even cars have DRM? I didn't know that, but I shouldn't be surprised what with how almost everything nowadays is computerized. I wouldn't be surprised if my toaster didn't have a computer chip installed somewhere inside it at this point.
If the DMCA statute is so backwards and restrictive that there are legal risks with repairing faulty merchandise, then I think it's time it got a few revisions... or better yet, a repeal.
--- I do more than just play games. I draw, too: http://www.silvermelee.deviantart.com
You wouldn't download a car...
If we don't own but rent everything now, we should pay rental prices.
This just goes to illustrate the Law of Unintended Consequences in action. The fact alone that a special act is needed just to repair cars should point out how deeply flawed and problematic this piece of legislation is. As always, if only the gaming community complains, no one cares. But once it starts affecting other parts of everyday life and impacts the average Joe will the case against the DMCA gain some real traction. Video games are one thing, but god forbid it starts meesing with our cars, which one could argue is a valued piece of Americana. Expect there to be big outcry for repealing the DMCA some time soon in the wake of this.
black manta
With HDCP the very video data we whatch is DRM'd, hell the way its implemented you can't watch 1080 stuff without it.....
I am a criminal because I purchase media,I am a criminal because I use media, I am a criminal because I chose to own media..We shall remain criminals until Corporate stay's outside our bedrooms..
http://zippydsmlee.wordpress.com
Correct me if I'm reading this wrong, but this bill would pretty much allow more people the ability to fix a car, right? Is there anything wrong with that? I mean, I try to stay away from dealerships whenever possible, so this is a good thing for someone like me, right?
Makers of DRM are just pursuing their own agenda and it seems that there is no heart put in when thinking of the drivers as well as gamers. KW Variant