I haven't kept track, but last time I read about it, DMCA lobbyists managed to get a pretty absurd restriction into the exemption: Cars may only be repaired by their owners, so handing your car over to a repairman or to researchers would still be illegal.
This means in practice the excemption would only change things for people who are both highly skilled in the relevant technology and are interested in fixing their own cars - a very small subset of the initial group of people affected by the DMCA restrictions.
Does anyone know if that restriction is still present?
Yes, the third party maintenance restriction is still in place. Which really neuters the exemption. You also can't develop a tool and sell it to others. (Use it yourself all you want, just don't share it.)
Clearly, that's ridiculous and needs to change. Repair.org could definitely use help to fix this once and for all.
If the common law fundamentalists are to be believed regarding "title" versus "manufacturer's certificate of origin", you aren't even actually the owner of "your" car.
What's the deal with that? Do the car companies try to say that you are only licensing the car (just like software companies only sell you a license, not actually software you can own)?
The issue isn't with the manufacturers, but the state. I can't do it justice and the whole subject is a bit crackpotty, so you're going to have to read up on your own. For example - Rights vs Privileges by Michael Badnarik.
I say "common law fundamentalists" because there is a whole community of people who have ran with these ideas and believe that the key to restoring their rights is just asserting them harder. While it would be great if true, I don't subscribe to this view and think it's much healthier to view such legal reasoning as explanations of exactly how things decayed to the point we're at.
This means in practice the excemption would only change things for people who are both highly skilled in the relevant technology and are interested in fixing their own cars - a very small subset of the initial group of people affected by the DMCA restrictions.
Does anyone know if that restriction is still present?