Re: GM had a problem with the ignition
"US government was getting all over Toyota about an alleged accelerator problem?"
No longer alleged. Been to court, end result $1Bn+ penalty payable by Toyota.
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1319903 "The single bit flip that killed" 25 Oct 2013
"Could bad code kill a person? It could, and it apparently did.
The Bookout v Toyota Motor Corp. case, which blamed sudden acceleration in a Toyota Camry for a wrongful death, touches the issue directly.
This case -- one of several hundred contending that Toyota's vehicles inadvertently accelerated -- was the first in which a jury heard the plaintiffs' attorneys supporting their argument with extensive testimony from embedded systems experts. That testimony focused on Toyota's electronic throttle control system -- specifically, its source code.
[continues]"
More detail from Prof Phil Koopman at CMU, an expert witness at the trial:
http://users.ece.cmu.edu/~koopman/pubs/koopman14_toyota_ua_slides.pdf
Toyota agree to pay £1Bn+ to end criminal inquiry
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/20/business/toyota-reaches-1-2-billion-settlement-in-criminal-inquiry.html
Plenty more if you go look for it. But not particularly widely publicised yet. Spread the word.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
