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This is a tricky situation. According to the DMCA we are not really breaking any copyrights here in regards to flashing the ECU. There is a mechanism to acquire the rom legally, and there is a mechanism to write the rom legally.
Now, if we were to pull the rom, write the values, and then upload the changed file to the web, that gets a bit hairy and go into the grey areas. But there are ways around this and to stay legal.
Since we really only modify a small subsection of the code, we could actually get around copyright law by only distributing Diff files. Since the mechanism to pull the rom and to flash the rom are the same tool, it would make sense that owners of the vehicle (99.9% of the users doing this) would have the tool, or at least access to the tool to get a copy of their own roms.
They then apply the diff files to their own, legally obtained roms (which they backed up using the legal mechanism), and they then get the same thing as we do now. Crisis averted.
There is also nothing really to gain by enforcing this either. Copyright laws for something like an ECU, where it's physically impossible to make any extra cash on distribution (contrast for example, a burned CD filled with pirated music being sold for $5) would make it really hard to justify damages and suing the tuner, since usually if you tune your car you either
1. know what you're doing
2. blow your engine.
the latter means that your warranty is shot and the manufacturer isn't on the hook for repairs. and the former means that there is no harm inflicted on the parent company.
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