One of the best things about owning a car is having the ability to modify it. Bolt on a new turbo-back exhaust or drop in a cold air intake with a tune. Theres nothing wrong with making your car your own. Well thats not what some manufacturers think.

Every 3 years, the US Copyright Office reviews proposed exemptions to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. This law is intended to prevent access to copyrighted work.

Some exemptions are allowed so that consumers can make full use of their products, for example, jail-breaking mobile phones. There are 2 proposed classes for exemption about this. Class 21 allows access to vehicle software to diagnose, repair, personalize, modify, or improve the vehicle. Class 22 allows access to vehicle software to test safety and security. The Auto Alliance, made up of the manufacturers below, are making the biggest push against these exemptions.

BMW Group

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles

Ford Motor Company

General Motors

Jaguar Land Rover

Mazda

Mercedes-Benz USA

Mitsubishi Motors

Porsche Cars North America

Toyota

Volkswagen Group of America

Volvo Car Corporation

The real reason these manufacturers want to ban software mods is because of money. Say that the exemptions are not allowed. The only place to legally service our cars would be at an authorized dealer in turn making them very rich. The manufacturers, on the other hand, claim to be promoting the push against these exemptions because people aren’t capable of safely modifying their own vehicles. They have not been trained to do so and they will ruin the system meant to protect air quality, increasing emissions. A classic excuse.

The US Copyright Office has sent a request from all parties to answer 3 questions by June 22nd.

Could the exemption impact other content such as vehicle communication and entertainment systems? How will used car buyers know if the previous owner modified the software if they are not allowed to access it themselves? How much would it cost to have this checked, and what equipment would be necessary? What are the costs and availability of manufacturing information to create aftermarket parts and diagnostic tools that individuals can use without violating the law?

Yeah safety might be a problem when tuning a car but by taking away that right it feels like they are taking away our freedom. We purchased these cars with our money and we want to make them ours. By limiting the amount of modifications one can have, they are reverting cars back to just daily machines that get us from point A to point B with no joy whatsoever.

Post down in the comments what your opinion is. I for one will probably be doing a lot of illegal mods if the exemption isn’t approved.

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