But all the car makers have tried to argue this over the years, however, as hard as they try and make it illegal to modify their ECU maps the law has said that they can do as much as they want to try and prevent it being modified but at the end of the day they can't legally stop anyone.

They can encrypt the ECU to make it harder, but that is about it, other than invalidate the warranty on the car. Even then they can only not cover a warranty claim if it could have been the remap that caused it. They can't not repair the stereo if the car has been mapped.

As a software designer is must be annoying, but how is it different to me designing a range of footwear for next season and then seeing the same styles in the high street stores a few weeks later?
The world will always copy, we live in a world were we constantly take whta is out there and try to improve, Japan has done nothing else for the last 50 years.

No Darling, I've had it months!