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Even 14 years after Napster was taken behind the woodshed
and shot by copyrights lawyers, online piracy continues to thrive. Sure, it
takes place in different formats,  whether it's ripping songs off YouTube or
tormenting anonymously, yet there has been no true solution for media piracy,
just more hilariously-ironic
advertisements.
When anything of worth becomes available, there is always
money to be made or saved by making counterfeits or modifications (see:
Chinatown, Manhattan, N.Y., USA). Now a new copyright legal fight is set to
take place, one that will determine exactly how much of that car in your
driveway you own. This upcoming July the Copyright Office will decide who owns
the car you bought (not leased), you or the manufacturer.
It seems like nonsense-after all, you own the things you pay
for, right?-but several manufacturers seem intent on interpreting copyright law
to make it so they own their products forever. Car buyers are instead
purchasing a user's license, not a product.
 This all kicked off when John Deere
recently submitted a comment in response to the Digital Millennium
Copyright Act, a 1998 law that criminalizes all means to bypass digital rights
management strategies. John Deere claims that the extensive coding found within
all their modern agricultural equipment is subject to the DMCA, which
inherently makes it and the hardware it commands property of John Deere. This
is the same argument propped up for years by cell phone companies that allowed smartphones
to be locked with certain companies-an argument that was eventually defeated.
Several automotive OEMs agree with John Deere, such as
General Motors. Automotive OEMs pointed
out that modifying the software of a vehicle could change how it operates,
whether it's used for breaking the speed limit or emitting too much carbon
exhaust. (Never mind that these are separate issues not related to copyright
infringement.) Therefore the only solution is for people to own the hardware,
but for them to have no say about what code runs through it, and to make it
illegal for them being too curious about it, right?
 This illustrates one of the fundamental problems with
technology ownership. You can never regulate how people use things they bought.
Once that transaction has taken place, people should be able to modify and hack
devices however they please. Not only will this inspire ingenuity, but it could
also improve cyber security as a whole. Many times white hats are prosecuted
for exposing security risks, when they're trying to help or just explore. If the Copyright Office sides with the OEMs, this would also eliminate much of the self-service performed by at-home grease monkeys.
Apparently farmers are turning towards older equipment to
prevent this sort of issue. If the Copyright Office ends up ruling in favor of
the OEMs, many more classic and ol' beater autos are going wind up on roads.
Now that could really screw up the emissions goals.
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