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Mazda's $10 subscription for remote start sparks backlash after killing open source workaround via DMCA takedown (www.carscoops.com)

submitted 2 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

263 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Mazda recently surprised customers by requiring them to sign up for a subscription in order to keep certain services. Now, notable right-to-repair advocate Louis Rossmann is calling out the brand.

It’s important to clarify that there are two very different types of remote start we’re talking about here. The first type is the one many people are familiar with where you use the key fob to start the vehicle. The second method involves using another device like a smartphone to start the car. In the latter, connected services do the heavy lifting.

Transition to paid services

What is wild is that Mazda used to offer the first option on the fob. Now, it only offers the second kind, where one starts the car via phone through its connected services for a $10 monthly subscription, which comes to $120 a year. Rossmann points out that one individual, Brandon Rorthweiler, developed a workaround in 2023 to enable remote start without Mazda’s subscription fees.

However, according to Ars Technica, Mazda filed a DMCA takedown notice to kill that open-source project. The company claimed it contained code that violated “[Mazda’s] copyright ownership” and used “certain Mazda information, including proprietary API information.”

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Did you bother to look into it at all? What you are asking doesn't even make sense from a design standpoint.

Nobody asked for a car you can print.

The way they are building their electric truck is the smartest way. Using available, off-the-shelf parts that have proven reliability. Nobody is going to be using CAD to create custom parts. Reinventing the wheel is precisely the problem and Edison Motors is working to avoid those mistakes.

Also, they are taking design input/feedback at the consumer level right now, BEFORE they have a 'completed' product to purchase. This is as close to open source as you can get in my opinion.

You could literally buy the same parts out of a warehouse and build a logging truck yourself if you wanted to.

Or you can sit on the internet and complain without having any idea what you're talking about.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

If they're using off the shelf parts and they include them in their open-source licensed CAD files, thats fine.

But, yes, CAD files are required, by definition, for open hardware projects. I said nothing about printing. CAD is needed for all types of manufacturing, even when using off the shelf standard parts like M3 bolts.

If they didn't release CAD files and license them openly, this is not an open source project and its not worth contributing to.

I build open source hardware for a living btw, and ive built open hardware industrial machines. Don't assume everyone you're talking to on the Internet is sitting in an armchair without rolling up their sleeves in the shop. I'm legitimately looking for an open hardware car. Best ive found is OpenMotors Tabby. They've released their CAD files (which are licensed under CC BY-SA), but their documentation is terrible.

Here's a link to help others https://openmotors.co/download