Just think if your Chevy could only be maintained by GM for three times the price. They would be sued so fast. How about the guy that said his U.S. elevator had to be reset by the manufacturer because it has gone over it's relevel count and no one else can do it. What kind of B.S. is that. What if your car just turned off because the sensor said it had gone over the misfire count. It should be illegal what these guys are doing.

-- Joe Kline (whobwho@yahoo.com), March 18, 2002

Answers

If you think GM gives free access to all the on board diagnostics, you are mistaken.

To service a GM car, you must have the proper authorization codes, work around it or use "pirate" software, just like with elevators. The Chevy dealer doesn't have access to other GM makes, much less to comptetion.

Because there is so much more demand, there is a lot more pirate software available for cars.

It is not against the law for any person (or corporation, which is legally an artificial person)to protect their intellectual property, just like the copyright on a book or a piece of music.

The morality of it can be debated, but not the legality.

-- John Brannon (akaelevman@AOL.com), March 19, 2002.

I am curious if the manufacturers are requiring confidentiality agreements as a condition of employment these days and if so what does IUEC say about this?

-- Vern Keller (vpkeller@earthlink.net), March 20, 2002.

proprietary

I have to agree with you on this one. I can't tell you how many times I've gone to a new job only to find out its a tac 50, or a 311. Not to mention the ascension (oh nooo). I have talked with a few Thyseen people and they say the "company" will sell the software and the trouble shooting tools for the specific job you have. We stick with motion control or elevator controls. I hear that Swift futura is trying to make a go of it on the west coast.

-- tj (elevatetj@attbi.com), March 24, 2002.