[SystemSafety] The VW Saga

Peter Bishop pgb at adelard.com
Mon Oct 12 16:52:07 CEST 2015


I wonder if all the emission targets can be met *at the same time* with
current engine technology (esp. diesel)?
If not - there might be a strong incentive to bend the rules to show
compliance.

Peter Bishop

On 12 October 2015 at 10:36, Driscoll, Kevin R <kevin.driscoll at honeywell.com
> wrote:

> What I am afraid of is that we will find other diesel engine manufacturers
> that have software that falls into a gray area.  Where is the line between
> emissions "cheating" and software that just happens to optimize engine
> emissions for driving conditions that look in awful lot like emissions
> testing scenarios?  Bringing us back to our regularly scheduled program:
> where is the dividing line between safe and unsafe software?
>
> And, of course, both of these will run into the issue Peter raises below
> of the public's interest in knowing what is in software versus the software
> creators' desire to keep trade secret IP.
>
> P.S.
> Yesterday I saw my first television ad for an "ambulance chasing" law firm
> that was pretending to be (or heavily implied that it was) the official
> recall contact.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: systemsafety-bounces at lists.techfak.uni-bielefeld.de [mailto:
> systemsafety-bounces at lists.techfak.uni-bielefeld.de] On Behalf Of Peter
> Bernard Ladkin
> Sent: Monday, October 12, 2015 4:15 AM
> To: RICQUE Bertrand (SAGEM DEFENSE SECURITE); The System Safety List
> Subject: Re: [SystemSafety] The VW Saga
>
> -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
> Hash: SHA256
>
> On 2015-10-12 10:48 , RICQUE Bertrand (SAGEM DEFENSE SECURITE) wrote:
> > It depends.
>
> It sure does!
>
> (I'm slowly beginning to think this is your way of saying "Hi everyone!"
> :-) )
>
> > It raises interesting questions. Can the retrofit be mandatory ? How
> > can the usual periodic tests (very generic) discover a problem designed
> to be hidden ?
>
> The questions are indeed interesting, and complicated. I raised this issue
> a while ago (in 2014, I
> think) privately. Both colleagues thought one could never get companies to
> agree to open up their SW IP (as Naughton points out, an increasing portion
> of the value of a product) to third-party inspection. But one of them
> thinks it an appropriate measure, as I do.
>
> It can't be impossible. For a long time, companies have had to open their
> finances to independent inspection once a year. For financial companies
> (some of the very biggest companies), almost their entire IP consists in
> that. It also doesn't always work (Enron, WorldCom, Lehmann, Madoff). But
> it mostly does.
>
> So it can be done. What's different about the case for SW?
>
> It would have to be done through legal instrument, as with finances. And
> if just one country passes such a law, then there is the danger that
> multinationals will just stop selling their products there.
>
> But I bet there's a way somehow.
>
> PBL
>
> Prof. Peter Bernard Ladkin, Faculty of Technology, University of
> Bielefeld, 33594 Bielefeld, Germany Je suis Charlie
> Tel+msg +49 (0)521 880 7319  www.rvs.uni-bielefeld.de
>
>
>
>
> -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
>
> iQEcBAEBCAAGBQJWG3omAAoJEIZIHiXiz9k+7TkH/jHrosRlDEP8ZXPabMl/a376
> uxSPWeghLO+2Vrtf3Q1PxkWt5Ry57IM05A665P+hDEm4raQWuSXwG7HPNMlDyZH4
> j+nVSO+sFYN45ZUM38gev0msv2FYKSym9DrVASv/GXFDJ8mDUKYlAo/ClWipCamC
> pxpUzC+D/W4eMd+as1BeIwUco1NaNZjbiDtOKq48FfVajkz0iszXdBo0Hx/L5srh
> SJF7466TNgmHxrwI/rFkCcTm1fCqdCwI9iVdVshmj5gvpWhCzNOnz0mTvArqRibp
> vD1TeLXrDaY/Ewjph8LM4xkg2ud1zw2RFq4vTCs3dP6ch2UteYQYgLn4IZj62oI=
> =DMHm
> -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----
> _______________________________________________
> The System Safety Mailing List
> systemsafety at TechFak.Uni-Bielefeld.DE
> _______________________________________________
> The System Safety Mailing List
> systemsafety at TechFak.Uni-Bielefeld.DE
>



-- 

Peter Bishop
Chief Scientist
Adelard LLP
Exmouth House, 3-11 Pine Street, London,EC1R 0JH
http://www.adelard.com
Recep:  +44-(0)20-7832 5850
Direct: +44-(0)20-7832 5855

Registered office: Stourside Place, Station Road, Ashford, Kent TN12 1PP
Registered in England & Wales no. OC 304551. VAT no. 454 489808

This e-mail, and any attachments, is confidential and for the use of
the addressee only. If you are not the intended recipient, please
telephone 020 7832 5850. We do not accept legal responsibility for
this e-mail or any viruses.
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <https://lists.techfak.uni-bielefeld.de/mailman/private/systemsafety/attachments/20151012/db142813/attachment.html>


More information about the systemsafety mailing list