Motorcyclists deserve right to repair what they own | Opinion; Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, July 6, 2026

Steve Panten, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel; Motorcyclists deserve right to repair what they own | Opinion

"Manufacturers have twisted a 1998 copyright law to lock independent repair shops out of the market. Section 1201 of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) was written to prevent music and movie piracy. At the time, nobody was thinking about motorcycle diagnostics.

But today, manufacturers embed encrypted locks in their products and use Section 1201 to make bypassing those locks illegal, even when the repair itself is lawful. Your local independent mechanic, no matter how skilled, cannot legally access the diagnostic software needed to service your bike. You are forced back to the dealership, on their timeline and at their price.

Momentum building in statehouses across the country

ABATE of Wisconsin has been fighting this at the state level, working with legislators to require manufacturers to provide necessary tools and diagnostic information at a reasonable cost. Momentum is building in statehouses across the country, and we are pleased that federal lawmakers have also taken preliminary steps to include right-to-repair provisions that recognize and include the motorcycle community."

When the Copyright Office Meets, the Future Needs a Seat at the Table; Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), February 21, 2018

Cory Doctorow, Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF); When the Copyright Office Meets, the Future Needs a Seat at the Table

"Every three years, EFF's lawyers spend weeks huddling in their offices, composing carefully worded pleas we hope will persuade the Copyright Office and the Librarian of Congress to grant Americans a modest, temporary permission to use our own property in ways that are already legal.

Yeah, we think that's weird, too. But it's been than way ever since 1998, when Congress passed the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, whose Section 1201 established a ban on tampering with "access controls for copyrighted works" (also known as "Digital Rights Management" or "DRM"). It doesn't matter if you want to do something absolutely legitimate, something that there is no law against -- if you have to bypass DRM to do it, it's not allowed.

What's more, if someone wants to provide you with a tool to get around the DRM, they could face up to five years in prison and a $500,000 fine, for a first offense, even if the tool is only ever used to accomplish legal, legitimate ends."