Automakers are trying hard to seize back the entitlements and perquisites they reluctantly gave up when the laws around mechanical ICE automobiles were standardized: the right to look under the hood, to maintain, to tinker, to repair, to modify, and so on. What automakers in these newer markets seem to want is something equivalent to what software corporations have: the ability not to <i>sell</i> cars but to issue a <i>licence to use</i> cars under strictly determined and enforced conditions.<p>Renault's remote lock is basically the same as Microsoft's Product Activation DRM, and even more nefarious because it applies to a physical manufactured product.