While I understand what you're saying, we need to remember that IP has value and these businesses aren't charities.
We need to remember any product you buy has value, usually less that’s what you paid for it but you own it, it’s yours. As such, you should be able to make the most use from your property. You shouldn’t be forced to obsolete a product, your property because a manufacturer has locked up technical information that could allow you to make further use of what you have already paid for.
This goes for all products these days but as they all use computers and their programs are covered by copyright for, what is it these days, 170 years after the death of the author, you are effectively locked out. Oddly, the USA’s constitution allows congress to assign copyright for a limited period, yet somehow people still defend current copyright as good and more than see 2 lifetimes to be an acceptable interpretation of ‘limited’. Just imagine restoring any ‘60s muscle car if it was full of ECU/BCM, etc, from a manufacturer that was a business and not a charity.
Yes, IP should have a minor place in a businesses thinking but justifying 170 years of legal protection because a business is not a charity is ludicrous. UK research suggested a more appropriate market protection period (focus was on books) was of the order of 7 years. Unsurprisingly nothing came of that other than (I think) they made the protection longer to align with USA. And now the USA is about to pass more draconian laws that define a copyright court making it easy peasy for ‘rights holders’ to take one and all to the cleaners (for sharing a few photos as is normal today).
Today’s IP protections are ludicrous and only getting worse, so be careful what you wish for. Yes, IP, especially patents are important but not for what many think. Their greatest use is as legal threat to their competitors, as a hammer if you will, all to stop competition.
In the context of Holden, they got paid rather well when I bought my Motorsport, yet they won’t allow me to do anything via their locked down system and with no documentation. I can’t even change the oil safely (as I don’t know drain plug torque value), let alone do anything like bleed brakes and ABS module, replace MyLink, etc.
The vehicle and it’s technical information is locked down for a reason, to force more sales, not to gather a three day $40 subscription from a vehicle owner every so often.
Oddly, Kia had a Korean technical portal with free access to maintenance and repair information for vehicles sold in Australia. Access disappeared soon after ACCC gave exemptions to Holden and others so they no longer needed to provide workshop manuals in lieu of fixed price service. And now ACCC is allowing subscription services for tech info as a solution (bangs head on wall).
The business world worked rather well before, with freely available technical information, so it will again if such is forced via legislation. And it’s nothing to do with business being a charity.