Right to Repair
Posted by Ben Baker on Nov 9th 2016
| Ask the average rider if he has the right to tinker with his ride, work on it and repair it. He’ll say yes. |
| As long as he’s referring to mechanical stuff, that’s correct. But on new motorcycles, tractors, cars and trucks, he did not have the right to repair computers and the software in those systems. |
| Did not. Now, the Library of Congress has changed the rules. |
| Sort of. |
| These rules won’t take effect until next year. The year-long delay was included to give software and computer companies time to plan for the new rule’s effects. |
| The Electronic Freedom Foundation (EFF) points out the DMCA ruling leaves some exceptions in place. Tech Dirt calls the overall ruling a “hot mess” and “a total mess.” |
| One of the “exemptions” to Right to Repair is you have to do the work yourself. As Tech Dirt says, “Even more bizarre, in the description about this exemption, it appears to say that this exemption can only be used if you are doing the circumvention yourself -- and not for hiring someone to do it for you.” |
| The original rules are based on the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). This act said the software belonged to the person who owned the copyright. Under the DMCA only authorized people could work on the programming. Anyone else was breaking the law. |
| WHAT’S NEW |
| The EFF took at look at the new rules. The writers summarize the rules for transportation as, “The Librarian recognized the need for vehicle owners to circumvent access restrictions in order to repair, modify, and tinker. The exemption removes the uncertainty of whether 1201 (the specific section of the DMCA) liability would attach to a range of activities that have been clearly lawful throughout most of the hundred-year history of automotive tinkering, but were called into question as an unintended consequence of copyright law. We are also pleased by the exemption for security research, which covers vehicles and many other devices. The Librarian included unnecessary limits and delays in the exemptions, but overall the ruling represent a victory for the public that will help independent security researchers evaluate automotive software, will promote competition in the vehicle aftermarket, and will support vehicle owners who wish to learn about or improve on their own cars.“ |
| In other words, if your ride has a computer, as many of the cruisers do, you can work on the computer next year. If you do it now, you are breaking the law. |
| The next question to ask is: How many riders know enough about computer programming to tinker with the software on their motorcycle? Under the current rule, when it takes effect, only the owner and the OEM can work on the computer program. |
| That means riders who don’t have a computer system to connect to their ride AND don’t understand the software still have to go to an OEM or authorized repair shop for work. |
| Does this matter? Iron steeds do have computers. They can fail. They can be modified. HD Open Road discusses some of the problems with on-ride computers. “Whereas a carburetor can be richened up (more gas, less air) with an inexpensive kit or by simply changing a couple of $3.50 jets, computer operated fuel injection systems are far more complex and require more money to get them richened up. One choice is [having] HD download a new map, which is a canned program that’s non-adjustable and, in the event that it does not work quite right for the configuration of cams, pipes, air filter, etc., that you’ve chosen for your motorcycle you’re pretty much just f***** since this system does not allow for fine tuning. Next there is [a] variety of secondary computers, such as a Power Commander or Race Tuner, that install inline with the original to allow complete gas/air mixture tuning.” |
| Fine tuning, using the built-in controls, is legal and was legal under DMCA. Adding software is legal because it does not change the basic computer program. However, actually changing the software code was illegal. When the new DMCA rules go into effect, you can do this or the OEM shop can do it. |
| WILL IT LAST? |
| The right to repair decision is already being challenged. No court cases have been filed, as of this article, but the US House of Representatives does have a bill to make working on automobile software illegal. |
| In defense of Congress, the bill is trying to make car software hijacking illegal. Making this hacking illegal won’t stop someone from taking over software, even in a computerized motorcycle. Proof of this can be seen by the massive number of hacking attacks on banks. |
| However, this bill as it stands also makes research illegal. The Wired story (linked above) says, “Researchers have hacked systems to find real threats to safety and security, and it’s wrongheaded of Congress and the automobile industry to try to stop it. Terrell McSweeney points out a number of examples over at Wired, telling car manufacturers that they’d be better off cooperating with hackers the way the tech industry has — with bounties for finding vulnerabilities and the like — in order to improve security.” |
| CHANGING THE RULES |
| Efforts to get the DMCA changed drew support from across groups. Truckers, bikers, farmers, musicians, gearheads, small businesses and even big oil companies wanted the law changed. The Right to Repair coalition brought a lot of groups together. |
| Under the DMCA, anyone with a ride with a computer that went crazy had three options: |
| OEM |
| Get it fixed illegally |
| Keep going and hope for the best |
| The DMCA was passed in 1998 to protect things like DVDs, music and so forth. Here’s the Wikipedia version because the federal language is confusing. |