Arguments over whether cyber-security researchers should have the right to experiment on cars may not end when the US Copyright Office issues a key ruling expected later this month.
A proposed exemption in copyright law would permit third-party researchers to continue tinkering with vehicle software. Automakers oppose that exemption request. But if federal officials grant it, manufacturers could take their opposition to Congress.
That strategy was made clear in a letter the Auto Alliance, the industry's leading trade group, recently sent to members of a US House of Representatives subcommittee, which is investigating the manufacturers' ability to fend off cyber attacks on increasingly connected vehicles. Among their chief concerns, the OEMs noted these independent researchers.
"Automakers are facing pressure from the organized efforts of technology pirates and anti-copyright groups to allow the circumvention of protected onboard networks, and to provide hackers with the right to attack vehicles carte blanche under the auspices of research," reads a summary of the letter provided to Autoblog.
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