Roibeard
I've been doing my best to wrap my head around your post (with great difficulty I may add). When I said that when you buy something with a computer program installed, you are actually only purchasing the right to use the program, what I meant was that, when you buy, say a forklift, with a computer program installed, you are in fact purchasing the entire forklift (even the installed computer program), but, you are only purchasing the right to use 'said' program. You do not have the right to alter, reproduce, etc, anything to do with the program. Those rights are protected by copyrights, etc.

If, in fact, you wanted to replace 'said' program with one that you owned the rights to, you could erase 'said' program, install yours, then change, duplicate, etc without any legal issues. The challenge comes in with regard to liability & emissions. You would be held liable for any issues concerning the forklift while your program was installed. As far as the emissions go (at least in the US), any emission compliant engine cannot be altered - period. To install your own program would mean that you'd have to get that particular engine tested - which is EXTREMELY cost prohibitive. Because of this reason alone (emission testing & certification) most of the forklifts today are using basically automotive engines which already have been tested & certified, therefor lowering the cost of the forklift.

As far as the suppliers who are developing & servicing these programs, they do so under agreements which allow them to do so. Just because a certain part is labeled "dealer item only", doesn't necessarily mean that the manufacturer of the forklift actually made the part, it only means that whoever made it, made it under license that the only distributor of that part was the OEM.

As far as disposal cost, we here in the US get paid to scrap metal- electric motors & all.