Mazda suddenly removes integration of smart car features with open source software
Japanese automaker
Mazda Slaps Developer With Cease-and-Desist for DIY Smart Home Integration
https://www.thedrive.com/news/mazda-slaps-developer-with-cease-and-desist-for-diy-smart-home-integration
Mazda's DMCA takedown kills a hobbyist's smart car API tool | Ars Technica
https://arstechnica.com/cars/2023/10/mazdas-dmca-takedown-kills-a-hobbyists-smart-car-api-tool/
Home Assistant is an open source home automation software that enables integration with over 1000 devices and services. Compatible services include Mazda's Connected Service, which allows some Mazda vehicle owners to ``check the remaining gasoline level before leaving in the morning'' or ``on days when rain is forecast.'' Various automations were implemented, such as warning whether the windows were closed or not, and starting the engine remotely on cold days. Foreign media Ars Technica points out that using the open source Home Assistant could do more than what Mazda's official app provides.
However, on October 11, 2023, Home Assistant updated its official blog and announced that it would remove the integration function of the software and Mazda's connected services. Brandon Rothweiler, a software engineer who was developing libraries to integrate Home Assistant with Mazda's connected services, receiveda takedown notice from Mazda for the various libraries based on the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). This is the reason for removing the integrated feature.
Removal of Mazda Connected Services integration - Blog - Home Assistant Community
https://community.home-assistant.io/t/removal-of-mazda-connected-services-integration/625885
Mr. Rothweiler has developed several libraries to integrate Mazda's connected services and Home Assistant, but among these, libraries such as ' pymazda ', ' node-mymazda ', and ' mazda-mobile-start ' It uses the source code of its own app 'MyMazda' ( iOS / Android ), and it has been pointed out that this constitutes copyright infringement. In response to this DMCA deletion notice, Mr. Rothweiler deleted the GitHub repositories of pymazda, node-mymazda, and mazda-mobile-start.
Additionally, Mazda released the latest version of MyMazda on October 12, 2023, which removes Mazda's connected services and Home Assistant integration.
Regarding this response, Home Assistant said, ``We are disappointed that Mazda has decided to take this course.We are also disappointed that Mazda's first step was to send a DMCA takedown notice rather than contact our maintenance personnel.'' It is also unfortunate that this happened.'
Nick Coston, an engineer involved in the development of Home Assistant, said of Mazda's DMCA takedown notice, ``We did not find any copyrighted code within
However, referring to the Electronic Frontier Foundation's FAQ on reverse engineering , Ars says that 'reverse engineering for interoperability purposes, such as disclosing MyMazda details to Home Assistant, may fall outside the scope of fair use under the DMCA.' Technica pointed out.
Home Assistant publishes the number of users who use the software to connect to various services on its official website. According to this, before the integration between Mazda's Connected Services and Home Assistant was removed, the number of users using Mazda's Connected Services via Home Assistant was 227 . However, only Home Assistant users who have opted in are included in this statistic, which is estimated to be around one-third of the total. In addition, Home Assistant continues to integrate with other automakers such as Subaru, Nissan, and Tesla, so Home Assistant is appealing to the public that it can still be used to work with cars.
In an email interview with Ars Technica, Rothweiler said he could not comment on integration-related details, but noted that integrating Home Assistant with Mazda's connected services was something he did as a hobby. Ta.
“When Mazda contacted me, my options were to comply or expose myself to potential legal risks, even if what I was doing was morally correct and legally protected. Even if we believed we were in the right place, legal proceedings would still have financial costs, so we couldn't take the risky option,'' Rothweiler said.
Home Assistant founder Paulus Schoutsen told Ars Technica: ``We regret that users are locked out of the data on their devices,'' and ``In this case, when connected to the cloud, It once again shows that owning a device that supports Home Assistant means you are forever dependent on the manufacturer's benefits, even if you pay for it. 'This is because vendors build communities around their platforms and devices. This should be encouraged, not contested.'
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