Auto Makers Try to Stop the Gear Heads

[Commentary] Do you own the car you’ve bought and paid for? Not really, not all of it. At least that’s what auto makers are asserting to the US Copyright Office. Tinkerers, aftermarket repair shops and copyright activists are lobbying for an exemption to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) of 1998 to guarantee car owners the right to alter the software in their vehicles. Dozens of “electronic control units” in modern cars regulate emissions, steering and other aspects of automotive performance. The nonprofit Electronic Frontier Foundation and the American Automobile Association -- speaking for car owners -- back the exemption, as do security researchers who want to probe auto software for vulnerabilities. Ford, GM, Toyota and other major car makers are adamantly opposed. Their argument is that a car buyer merely licenses that software code from the auto maker and cannot break the security measures walling it off without violating copyright law. This claim could end the American pastime of tinkering under the hood. But the precedent will reach beyond the auto shop, particularly as more everyday products begin to include software code.

Futurists talk of an “Internet of things,” a world in which everything from your thermostat to refrigerator is run in part by networked electronics. When the Copyright Office makes its recommendations, expected Fall 2015 -- the Librarian of Congress makes the final decision -- it should consider the precedent it would set. Do you want to be told someday that you or a repairman can’t modify your refrigerator or thermostat to improve its performance or keep it running? In a world in which every device may someday include software, it is essential to preserve the right to tinker.

[Rand is an assistant professor at the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business]