VW scandal

[Daniel Pocock]

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On 09/10/15 08:57, Nico Rikken wrote:

> Making the point that an open source development model would have 
> prevented this issue seems a bit overblown to me. Yes it would be
> easier



http://www.computerworld.com/article/2986682/telematics/how-the-dmca-may-have-let-carmakers-cheat-clean-air-standards.html?nsdr=true

> Don't get me wrong, this is an environmental crime which is serious
> and a through investigations and regulatory adjustments are needed.
> But to me this issue has more to do with regulations, requirements,
> company ethics, and less to do with the licensing or development
> model of the source code.



It is all about hiding things from the public, keeping the public in
the dark and exploiting the gullible

It isn't just about emissions, they used the same approach with the
fuel efficiency statistics.  This is why many consumer organizations
are now making law suits.  Consumers were duped into believing their
cars use less fuel than they really do.


> I'm more concerned about the security implications of hidden source
> code (VW cars apparently had an unresolved security flaw in their
> lock system [1]) and the limited possibility of executing
> maintenance or modifications due to software restrictions (John
> Deere). I'm not sure how this should be regulated, but having
> decent laws in place to provide freedom for car drivers and car
> owners would be a great step forward.

The regulatory situation can be improved in various ways:

- - Governments (and the military, police, etc) own and lease many cars,
they could make open source a procurement policy

- - the DMCA (and anything like it that is hidden in trade partnerships,
such as the recently signed TPP or the proposed TTIP) should be
scrapped/opposed

- - the law could even go the opposite direction, giving consumers a
right to have software inspected and modified.  Many countries already
have laws giving consumers choice in other areas (e.g. the choice to
have their car serviced at any garage and not just with the franchise
where they bought it) so why shouldn't they have the same right of
choice with software?

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