Copyright Office approves car hacking

For years, the auto industry has used copyright law and anti-hacking provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 to stop hotrodders from hacking into the software that controls modern cars. That is about to change, thanks to exemptions from the DMCA which were approved last week by the U.S. Copyright Office. Under the exemptions, car buffs and researchers will be able to break into and, to some extent, modify the software that controls cars without violating the law.　 Whether doing so will void the warranty will probably still depend on the automakers.