The right to repair as a legislative movement has grand implications on the future of medical equipment maintenance, and debates surrounding which direction is the best for the industry will weigh heavily on the future safety of patients.
Common sense tells us that illegal hackers are not waiting for legal access to repair documentation, nor that they would be in the least constrained by the threat of litigation for copyright violations.
“Nefarious hackers” with a profit motive aren’t looking to sell ventilator firmware (as an example) on the black market, since there is no black market for firmware. Firmware for all devices is included with the product in the first place – so the only parties needing firmware already have it. Restoring lost software is specifically legal under Copyright Law Section 117.
It’s also absurd to imagine there are roving bands of nefarious hackers pretending to be qualified repair techs breaking into hospitals plying service offers, whispering, “Hey, Lady– I happened to be in the neighborhood and I have leftover MRI Repair parts that maybe you could use.”
Read the full article at IP Watch Dog.
