b'Manufacturers respond! The draft legislation now being drafted would seek to:On Nov. 20, the Alliance for Automotive Inno-vation, the trade group representing the vehi- Ensure direct and real-time access by the after-clemanufacturers,iledalawsuitinfederalmarket to vehicle repair data with permission courtagainsttheCommonwealthofMassa- by the owner.chusetts seeking to overturn Question 1. TheMandate that car companies make information lawsuit cites multiple reasons for overturningsoftware and parts available to the aftermarket.the new law, including the economic harm toProhibitactionsbythevehiclemanufacturers theirbottomline,cybersecurityissuesandthat would prevent or unfairly discourage use of their view that the law is preempted by feder- aftermarket products or services.al safety and emissions laws. In other words, What is next? thevehiclemanufacturersareignoringtheEstablishanon-goingstakeholderadvisory will of the people, who overwhelmingly votedcommittee to work with the Federal Trade Com-Nowthatthepeoplehavespoken,thenextto have control over the mechanical data gen- mission to proactively address vehicle manufac-step is implementation. The Auto Care Associ- erated by their vehicles and to have that dataturer anti-competitive actions.ationhasbeenworkingwithexpertsintheshared directly with their independent shop automotive industry for the past several yearswhere they prefer to do business. That law- AswesawinMassachusetts,theautocare to develop international standards that wouldsuit, which will be defended by the Massachu- industry can expect extensive opposition from permit the cyber secure transmission of datasetts Attorney General, will likely go before athevehiclemanufacturerstoanyefforts directly from vehicles to independent shops.federal judge in June.aimedatensuringacompetitiverepair Known as the Secure Vehicle Interface (SVI),market. Therefore, success of this effort will these standards permit manufacturers to pro- requireparticipationfromtheindustryto tecttheirproprietaryvehiclesystemswhilecontacttheirelectedoficialsinsupportof providing a gateway where data can be madethis pro-consumer initiative. available to shops authorized by the owner to receive that data. The standards provide forStaytunedformoreinformationfromthe anelectroniccertiicatesystem,similartoAuto Care Association early in 2021.how a bank ATM works, making sure that the data only lows to those authorized to receive and use that data. The goal of SVI is to ensure that no matter which vehicle a shop is servic-ing, the technician will have the ability to both obtain and use the mechanical data in order to diagnose and complete the repair.The road aheadThe association has been reaching out to theNotwithstandingthelawsuit,theAutoCare manufacturersforthepastseveralyearstoAssociation is seeking to take advantage of the discuss, not only the need for the independentmomentum created by the vote in Massachu-service industry to have access to telematicssetts on Question 1, to ensure shops in the rest data, but also how access could be cost effec- of the country have access to diagnostic and tively and cyber securely accomplished, onlyrepair data for their customers. The associa-to be met with almost total silence. The daytion is working with the Automotive Aftermar-after the election, the association once againket Suppliers Association (AASA) and the CAR invited the manufacturers to meet with us asCoalition,agroupofaftermarketcollision soon as possible to discuss how the initiativepartsmanufacturersandinsurancecompa-could be implemented, but that invitation alsonies,tointroducedataaccesslegislationin went unanswered.Congress. 32'