from the good-luck-with-that dept
Again in 2023 we wrote about how regional Polish rail firm and a practice producer NEWAG had taken to utilizing DRM to lock down trains which can be repaired by unbiased technicians, in a bid to each monopolize — and drive up the prices of restore. This sort of effort to monopolize restore is widespread throughout quite a few industries, driving an natural, grass roots “proper to restore” reform motion.
The unique story by 404 Media famous that NEWAG put code of their practice’s management techniques stopping them from operating if a GPS tracker detected that it spent any time at an unbiased restore firm, and if sure elements had been changed with out a manufacturer-approved serial quantity. Some unbiased corporations responded by hiring a white hat hacking group dubbed Dragon Sector to bypass the DRM and get the trains operating once more.
Two years later and it appears like NEWAG has taken all of the fallacious classes from the expertise.
The oldsters at iFixit notice that the corporate has now sued each the Polish restore service SPS that mounted these authentic trains, and has additionally gone after the person members of moral hacking group Dragon Sector for serving to them. NEWAG is searching for $1.7 million for copyright violations and “illegal competitors” in a single court docket, and $1.36 million for illegal competitors and infringement of non-public rights in one other.
Like most unethical corporations making an attempt to monopolize restore, NEWAG tries to insist that this isn’t about making extra money, however in regards to the public’s security. However iFixit notes that the corporate’s case has a number of main inconsistencies, together with each claiming that the hacking group did and didn’t modify their software program:
“Newag claims that the Dragon Sector crew endangered passengers’ security by modifying the software program with out correct expertise. However Newag then turns proper round and claims that Dragon Sector didn’t modify the software program in any respect. They level out that EU regulation solely permits reverse engineering of software program in an effort to repair bugs. And if Dragon Sector didn’t truly modify the software program, it can’t have mounted any bugs, during which case their reverse-engineering should be unlawful.”
The Biden FTC below Lina Khan issued a report stating that such security claims had been nearly at all times bullshit; a helpful bogeyman utilized by corporations making an attempt to justify anti-competitive, anti-consumer behaviors.
The issue for corporations like NEWAG is the tougher they attempt to monopolize restore and bully unbiased restore retailers, the better public consideration and animosity is. The better public consideration and anger turns into, the extra doubtless corporations are to see “proper to restore” legislative reform forcing them to do what was the suitable factor within the first place.
Nonetheless, there’s no scarcity of corporations throughout a dozen totally different industries which appear to suppose it’s a good suggestion to attempt to monopolize restore via DRM, making elements and manuals exhausting to seek out, or interact in “elements pairing” that makes it unattainable to easily exchange particular person “unsanctioned” elements.
Filed Beneath: shoppers, copyright, dragon sector, drm, lawsuit, locomotives, elements pairing, poland, proper to restore, trains
Firms: newag, sps
