Audi plans innovative new options scam

[Alastor]

Not in modern cars.
The heating element will have a CAN address and ODB ( or extension ) protocol command for control and monitoring. Chekc otu fog lights on new Minis. Yes you can hook it up but the switch now has to be seperate too. So you've fecked up a perfectly good looking and easy to use car for a few bucks ?

I didn't say it would look pretty or be safe ;-) But I have no doubt that something like heated seats could be hard-hacked, I mean there are a lot more complicated pieces of equipment out there that get hacked. Personally, I wouldn't cut holes in the seats of my brand new $50k Audi, but some else might.

Chekc out your next car purchase and service agreemetn.
You'll find you are NOT covered if you make changes or modification and in soem countries you are not ALLOWED to make some types of modifications.

I agree, there is a contract but it typically expires when the warranty period runs out.

NO. For example the code inside the ECU is patented, many parts of the car design are copyright. You have been given a "right to use" as intended. NOT carte-blanche to do with as you wish.

Patents and copyrights as the name suggest is to prevent copy and redistribution. It doesn't prevent me from reverse engineering anything I bought. I know there are gray areas to this, but for genuine personal use I am free to do a lot.

There is no law that says I can't look at the code inside the ECU. It just depends on what I do with that code. As well, if I go around modifying things with unintended consequence I may be legally liable. But isn't that price of freedom?

IANAL so feel free to correct me where I am wrong.

Once you're out of warranty then the manufacturer has little care or concern with you making modifications. They are not longer responsible and more importantly by then they've made the profit they required to make on the vehicle "life".

That is an interesting point.

First off, if the contract says you have not purchased them then you do NOT own them. A car is not a single item. If you look closely you will find a order from whcih they create a "build sheet" for a model. The things you paid for you own. If it says you did not purchase the heating element and control then you do NOT have a right to use. Just because something is "ther" does NOT imply amy right to use and in the case they woudl offer a pay-as-you-go model then the contract will make that clear.

I just don't ever see how this can be legal. I buy a car without the heated seat option, but the seat heating system is still installed. I decide to build a street racer and therefore part-out the factor equipment starting with the seats. Someone with a heated seat enabled car buys my seats, because their seats broke and they don't want to pay OEM prices.

If I don't own the heating system I would be breaking the law by selling something I don't own.

MUCH simpler case ... you bought your computer ... and yet you WILL be arrested and jailed if you sell that computer to a nation state or its representative that is on the restricted access to technologies list So you "own" it, but you can't use it any way you like or want. Equally in your PC the chip has either Intel or AMD micro-code inside the CPU. You bought it, you use it daily BUT you have NO RIGHTS to it to make copies, or modify it or even publish it.

I wasn't clear before...I am talking about personal use only. You are talking about copyright, resell, redistribution, etc but I am talking about what I can do in my own garage for my own personal use.