WOT: GM states we don't buy cars, just have a license to use them, Autoblog: Can the upcoming copyright hearing stop others from working on cars? Options

[bandjoey]

Very Interesting. Seems this is pointed towards the technology in cars, but could one day effect us all. Independent mechanics in jeopardy?

http://www.autoblog.com/2015/05/19/gearhea...odify-hearings/

INtersting read.

[somd914]

This came up a while ago on Lotus Talk. Welcome to the world of electronic and software oriented cars.

Though I'm no lawyer, from a legal standpoint when you purchase software, you are presented a user agreement (contract) prior to installation. Years ago there was a suit to force software manufacturers to present the agreement prior to purchase rather than at time of installation. The reason for this was than most vendors will not accept a return for opened software, therefore if you disagree with the contract, you had few options to return the software. Additionally, contracts are supposed to be presented and agreed upon by both parties prior to completing a sale. Guess who won? I'll give you hint, user agreements are still presented at the time of installation not prior to the sale.

Anyway, where is the user license agreement when you purchase a car?

Also keep in mind that on-board telemetry is starting to be used to determine if warranties have been voided, i.e. have you been driving "abusively"? If so, you might have voided your warranty. What is "abusive"? That's the manufacturer's call.

The situation will only get worse. As a software engineer involved in flight simulation, I'm very concerned about the level of automation in cars, and supposedly in the next 5-10 years autonomous cars will flood the market. I know first hand the complexities of real-world dynamic situations that are monitored and reacted upon in real time - not an easy task and still prone to failure given the countless paths through software. The FAA and DOD requires rigid development and testing standards for flight software. I haven't seen such out of DOT for cars, maybe it's there and not well known, but if so, I would imagine it pales in comparison to flight software though lives are still on the line.

I don't see any new cars in my future. I'll just keep rebuilding my old ones until they make that illegal due to safety concerns...