By John Timmer

As automobiles become more complex, repairing them is requiring increasingly sophisticated tools, such as interfaces into their computerized internal diagnostic systems. Congress is now considering a bill that would give everyone equal access to the required technology.

The bill states up front that regular maintenance is critical for everything from basic safety to minimizing the environmental impact of vehicles. It also argues that car owners are entitled to the service provider of their choice when it comes to the repair and maintenance of their vehicles, and that competition among service providers helps ensure that everyone has viable choices in this regard. The threat to this comes from the fact that automakers can provide discriminatory access to the tools required for maintenance, providing them only to authorized service providers or refusing to allow individual car owners to purchase them.

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