Who owns the secret codes, the buyer or the seller?

An Associated Press story the other day reported that independent garages across the country are finding it more and more difficult to repair the cars that their customers bring in.
It is a problem of the computer age, but the problem doesn't lie with the computers that regulate the modern automobile. It is a problem of information -- specifically certain computer codes -- that is being hoarded by the manufacturers.
To diagnose what ails a modern engine, a mechanic attaches a computer to a port on the car and downloads information. The codes tell the mechanic the nature of the malfunction and help identify the bad component.
The codes for malfunctions that would cause the vehicle to violate federal air quality regulations must be made public. But others have been treated as industrial secrets that make it nearly impossible for an independent garage to make the repairs.
The benefit of this, obviously, accrues to dealerships affiliated with the automaker.
But service garages attached to auto dealerships shouldn't need this competitive advantage. They have proved themselves perfectly capable of competing in the open market. They offer their customers good service, quality parts, a factory-trained crew, a pleasant atmosphere and conveniences such as shuttle service to and from the garage.
Quality has its rewards
That's enough to keep loyal customers coming back. A well-run service department doesn't need its affiliated automaker to withhold vital information from unaffiliated garages or from the car-buying public.
It is no different for a carmaker to protect such secret codes than for a software giant to build codes into its software that makes its operating system incompatible with other programs or that would make it so that a computer could be repaired only by an "authorized service representative."
When a buyer plunks down $20,000 or $40,000 for a car, he or she also buys access to the codes that someday will be necessary to repair the car. It should be that simple.
This conflict should been seen not as a battle between auto companies and their dealers and independent garages. All that's necessary is a recognition of the concept that the customer has paid for the car and should be able to have his vehicle serviced at the garage of his choice.