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Car owners and security experts can tinker with automobile software without incurring US copyright liability, according to newly issued guidelines that were opposed by the auto industry.
The Library of Congress, which oversees the US Copyright Office, agreed with fair use advocates who argued that vehicle owners are entitled to modify their cars, which often involves altering software.
Automakers including General Motors and other vehicle manufacturers such as Deere & Co opposed the rules. They said vehicle owners could visit authorized repair shops for changes they may need to undertake.
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US Copyright Office Says People Have the Right to Hack their Own Cars' Software
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Fascinating is a word I use for the unexpected.
-- Spock, "The Squire of Gothos", stardate 2124.5
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 28 2015, @08:21PM
People shouldn't buy cars that run proprietary software in the first place.
Automakers including General Motors and other vehicle manufacturers such as Deere & Co opposed the rules. They said vehicle owners could visit authorized repair shops for changes they may need to undertake.
These companies have disdain for the idea of users' freedoms being respected. With non-free proprietary software, you can only task "authorized" people to make the changes you want. With Free Software, you can task anyone to make the changes, you can make the changes yourself, or use the changes someone else already made; you have no masters. I have no reason to trust these "authorized repair shops" or the software the car makers developed.
Do not use software that does not respect your freedoms.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 28 2015, @08:35PM
> People shouldn't buy cars that run proprietary software in the first place.
Is your car pre-ECU (electronic control unit)?
I don't think there are enough cars left from before 1980 (approx start date of digital engine controls) to go around. At least not in the USA.
Now, in Cuba, where cars were next to impossible to import, they seem to have some 1950's cars still working.
(Score: 3, Touché) by M. Baranczak on Wednesday October 28 2015, @09:02PM
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 28 2015, @09:14PM
Do you have any practical suggestions?
Buy an extremely old car and campaign for car manufacturers to be forced to release their software as Free Software. Sorry if that doesn't sound easy and fun, but obtaining and keeping freedom is rarely easy.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by mhajicek on Thursday October 29 2015, @05:40AM
No, PRACTICAL suggestions.
The spacelike surfaces of time foliations can have a cusp at the surface of discontinuity. - P. Hajicek
(Score: 2) by mhajicek on Thursday October 29 2015, @05:38AM
Is that Analpumpernickle?
The spacelike surfaces of time foliations can have a cusp at the surface of discontinuity. - P. Hajicek