[ Date Index ] [ Thread Index ] [ <= Previous by date / thread ] [ Next by date / thread => ]
On Fri, Sep 18, 2015 at 11:37:20AM +0100, Julian Hall wrote: > This is a HUGE deal as it will likely result > in federal laws that will require all hardware to be totally locked down > (meaning that you won't be able to flash custom firmware on your router > (such as OpenWRT) or on your phone (Cyanogenmod etc). More seriously, > the proposed legislation has provision to require total lockdown of UEFI > bootloaders, meaning that it will be impossible to install a third party > OS (such as Linux or BSD) on your PC or laptop. Actually, it's a little bit more complicated than that. And unlikely as bad as your friend makes it seem. Ars Technica had a good story on the subject http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2015/09/fcc-accused-of-locking-down-wi-fi-routers-but-the-truth-is-a-bit-murkier/ It quotes the FCC as saying "versions of this open source software can be used as long as they do not add the functionality to modify the underlying operating characteristics of the radio frequency parameters". So the hardware manufacturers just need to make sure that you can't use the hardware to operate at certain frequencies, not even by installing custom firmware. Which sounds sensible, especially if people do indeed use these frequencies when they shouldn't. Of course, one could worry that the manufacturers respond by not allowing custom firmware to be installed on their devices. I doubt that's going to be the case and if it were, I'm not sure if the FCC would say that would be sufficient. I haven't seen anyone say this would affect PCs or desktops. Martijn.
Attachment:
signature.asc
Description: Digital signature
-- The Mailing List for the Devon & Cornwall LUG http://mailman.dclug.org.uk/listinfo/list FAQ: http://www.dcglug.org.uk/listfaq