Anyone think that VW are the only automakers pulling this trick in the US? No me neither! 😞
Automakers argue that it’s unlawful for independent researchers to look at the code that controls vehicles without the manufacturer’s permission. We’ve explained before how this allows manufacturers to prevent competition in the markets for add-on technologies and repair tools. It also makes it harder for watchdogs to find safety or security issues, such as
faulty code that can lead to unintended acceleration or
vulnerabilities that let an attacker take over your car.
The legal uncertainly created by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act also makes it easier for manufacturers to conceal intentional wrongdoing. We’ve asked the Librarian of Congress to grant an exemption to the DMCA to make it crystal clear that independent research on vehicle software doesn’t violate copyright law. In opposing this request, manufacturers
asserted that individuals would violate emissions laws if they had access to the code. But we’ve now learned that,
according to the Environmental Protection Agency pdf], Volkswagen had already programmed an entire fleet of vehicles to conceal how much pollution they generated, resulting in a real, quantifiable impact on the environment and human health.
Researchers Could Have Uncovered Volkswagen’s Emissions Cheat If Not Hindered by the DMCA | Electronic Frontier Foundation
By Jamie Lendino on September 24, 2015
Fallout from the Volkswagen diesel scandal continues to grow, as this morning brings
reports that Audi’s head of research and development Ulrich Hackenberg and Porsche’s engine chief Wolfgang Hatz are both out — two of the top engineering figures in the Volkswagen’s other flagship brands. That comes as a bit of a surprise, even though it’s widely expected more heads will roll at VW aside from Martin Winterkorn, the CEO of the company’s worldwide operations, who resigned effective yesterday.
Meanwhile, there’s word from the German newspaper
Auto Bild that BMW’s diesel engines were also “significantly” exceeding regulatory limits, CNBC
reports, with the BMW X3 2.0-liter diesel model spitting out 11 times more nitrogen oxide than the current level set by the European Union.
Full Article
The following article is a summary on VW scandal
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VW’s case of NOxious emissions: a tale of SMOKE and MIRRORS?.
26 Sep 2015 at 07:00,
Alistair DabbsSomething for the Weekend, Sir? Karma must be a great comfort to those who believe in it. The assurance that nasty deeds will be accounted for, eventually, must make all the **bleep** we have to put up with worthwhile.
Take Martin Winterkorn,
forced to resign his role as head of Volkswagen this week, amid revelations that his company had been systematically covering up VW’s policy of poisoning the atmosphere with nitrogen oxide.
Karma has now struck the poor man a swinging blow, with Winterkorn now having to survive on a meagre €3.2m severance payment and then eking out a hand-to-mouth existence on his €1m annual pension.
That’ll learn him!
For readers who might be unaware of the VW scandal (drivers of diesel cars, for example, since so many of their brain cells have been killed by exhaust fumes) it’s a fascinating mashup of automotive engineering, software development, and capitalist greed.
full article
