It sounds to me like the EFF is overreacting again. When the new iPod shuffle came out, the they sounded the alarm about headphones requiring "DRM authentication". They later retracted their statement. Turns out that the "DRM" was just an electrical signaling protocol that allowed the headphones to send button press events to the iPod. You knowâ"the kind that any EE would design. The headphones and the iPod have to communicate somehow.

It sounds to me like this is more of the same. From the article:

car manufacturers now severely limit the number of repair shops that are allowed to have the tools, diagnostic codes and updated repair information essential to being able to repair late-model cars

A lack of information, or the need for sophisticated test equipment does not automatically imply DRM.

I'm all for making information on car diagnostic protocols and diagnostic code semantics more freely available, but let's call it what it really is.

--Bruce

If by "exponential", you mean "large linear", then maybe.

--Bruce

Georgia Tech has a campus in France that teaches (surprise!) technical courses in English.

--Bruce