404 Media
The Polish hackers who heroically fixed a series of NEWAG passenger trains that the manufacturer had artificially bricked with DRM are now being threatened with lawsuits from NEWAG. NEWAG has also filed a complaint with Polish authorities and has demanded the trains be removed from service.
Hackers fixed the trains *with permission from the trains' owner*
Repair expert told us this is "classic OEM bullshit," just on a train this time
Rich Felker
@gsuberland @404mediaco If the software is pretending to be broken because it inferred from GPS that it was taken to a repair shop, that's fraudulent. It's attempting to obtain something of commercial value based on deception.
Graham Sutherland / Polynomial
@dalias @404mediaco while I agree that perpetual-renting style purchase agreements and related mechanisms for obfuscating ownership and impeding right-to-modify ought to be banned, I strongly doubt that the legal apparatus would agree with a severe enough interpretation to classify it as a criminal act of fraud.
but that's still fine, because even a far more moderate (and, let's be honest, realistic) legal interpretation would clear LSR, SPS, and Dragon Sector of any wrongdoing.
Rich Felker
@gsuberland @404mediaco The original code was malware/fraud and should be treated as a criminal act by the manufacturer. Defusing that is absolutely "repair".
Graham Sutherland / Polynomial
@404mediaco it'll be very interesting if this gets escalated to the EC, as a challenge under EU Right to Repair. clause 18 of the directive makes it clear that third party repair is a matter of consumer choice and is encouraged, but I suspect that NEWAG will challenge the notion that the modifications made constitute a repair, for which there is less supporting precedent. not that I expect they'll have much luck.
Graham Sutherland / Polynomial
@dalias @404mediaco the real gem in all of this is the precedent it is likely to create. NEWAG may well have done everyone a favour here, given the EC's propensity toward take-no-bullshit stances on matters of consumer rights as of late.
LisPi
Leszek
@gsuberland @dalias @404mediaco Not exactly consumer law this time :(
However without going into legal minutae most (if not all?) Polish customers of Newag bought Impulse 2 trains with money from taxes in public tenders. There's an additional book of regulations to hit them with for defrauding the taxpayer which might have EU-wide consequences.
Macleod Sawyer
@404mediaco deere disease is a plague.
Ben Bradley
@404mediaco Looks like a soon-to-be-classic "Copyright Law says we can do this" vs. "Right To Repair" case. It seems this NEWAG threatening "hackers" while asking The Government to protect its "right" to screw with train service (all "service" puns intended) is a bit risky, though it may be an opportunity for Government Officials to receive some Clarence Thomas-like off-the-record funding.
I hope that sentence isn't too long.
Eva Infeld
@404mediaco On the other hand, NEWAG is likely to face the consequences. The prosecutor's office and consumer protection agency are already on them, and a few MPs are taking them on very actively.
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