Mazda false DMCA takedown notice Home Assistant App
Mazda brand cars allow remote access to certain functions of the vehicle via servers owned by the company. To access these functions, Mazda provides an official app for the smartphone. After an open source project emerged that integrated support for Mazda vehicles into the Home Assistant suite, Mazda issued a false DMCA takedown notice causing the project to be abandoned. A year after the incident Mazda then introduced a subscription model into their app that costs $10/month locking the previously free features behind a paywall.
Background
Many vehicles sold by Mazda allow for remote access to various functions of the car. These include features such as starting the engine remotely, rolling the windows up or down, or checking the fuel level. To control the car remotely, Mazda offers an official app for your phone that connects to a server which then transmits the data to the car.
In 2023 an open source tool was created that integrates the Mazda connectivity features into the open source home management software "Home Assistant", which is an open platform that allows users to access their products via these indiviually created integrations. The program functions in essentially the same way as Mazda's official app, connecting to Mazda's servers that control your car remotely.
[Incident]
On October 10th 2023 Mazda issued a DMCA takedown[1] to github claiming the integration that adds connectivity with Mazda vehicles infringes on their intellectual properly rights by stealing code from their official app.
[Company]'s response
Consumer response
References
- ↑ "Takedown Notice by Mazda". Github. Archived from the original on 2023-10-12. Retrieved 2025-05-08.