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posted by LaminatorX on Thursday September 03 2015, @03:30PM   Printer-friendly
from the from-my-cold-dead-hands dept.

Hackaday sounds the alarm and along with ThinkPenguin, the EFF, FSF, Software Freedom Law Center, Software Freedom Conservancy, OpenWRT, LibreCMC, Qualcomm, and others have created the SaveWiFi campaign (archive.is capture, real link is at this overloaded server) , providing instructions on how to submit a formal complaint to the FCC regarding this proposed rule. The comment period is closing on September 8, 2015.

From Hackaday:

Under the rule proposed by the FCC, devices with radios may be required to prevent modifications to firmware. All devices operating in the 5GHz WiFi spectrum will be forced to implement security features to ensure the radios cannot be modified. While prohibiting the modification of transmitters has been a mainstay of FCC regulation for 80 years, the law of unintended consequences will inevitably show up in full force: because of the incredible integration of electronic devices, this proposed regulation may apply to everything from WiFi routers to cell phones. The proposed regulation would specifically ban router firmwares such as DD-WRT, and may go so far as to include custom firmware on your Android smartphone.

A lot is on the line. The freedom to modify devices you own is a concern, but the proposed rules prohibiting new device firmware would do much more damage. The economic impact would be dire, the security implications would be extreme, and emergency preparedness would be greatly hindered by the proposed restrictions on router firmware. The FCC is taking complaints and suggestions until September 8th.

Leave a comment for the FCC via this link to the Federal Register


Original Submission

 
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  • (Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Thursday September 03 2015, @03:57PM

    by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Thursday September 03 2015, @03:57PM (#231813) Journal

    Like, I really give a damn about something like this? I got the hardware. It's pretty much a proven fact that the guy who has his hands on the hardware not only "owns" it, but he "pwns" it as well. Oh - the manufacturer put in a "security feature" to prevent me diddling with it? Whoop-ti-do. That "feature" will be cracked within days.

    Alright, I guess this took more than mere "days", but who remembers it?

    https://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/DeCSS/Gallery/decss-haiku.txt [cmu.edu]

    Starting Score:    1  point
    Karma-Bonus Modifier   +1  

    Total Score:   2  
  • (Score: 4, Insightful) by Zz9zZ on Thursday September 03 2015, @04:18PM

    by Zz9zZ (1348) on Thursday September 03 2015, @04:18PM (#231831)

    I'm not too worried about this and figure it won't go Orwellian, however I would like to address your point. You should give a damn, it adds another item to a list of possible crimes you could be charged with. Just because it would be near impossible to enforce doesn't mean we should let it slide.

    --
    ~Tilting at windmills~
    • (Score: 4, Insightful) by jdavidb on Thursday September 03 2015, @04:26PM

      by jdavidb (5690) on Thursday September 03 2015, @04:26PM (#231835) Homepage Journal

      Just because it would be near impossible to enforce doesn't mean we should let it slide.

      Right; I am all for laws becoming unenforceable, but I'm also strongly in favor of people learning to quit supporting the power to make unjust laws in the first place.

      --
      ⓋⒶ☮✝🕊 Secession is the right of all sentient beings
  • (Score: 2) by jdavidb on Thursday September 03 2015, @04:25PM

    by jdavidb (5690) on Thursday September 03 2015, @04:25PM (#231834) Homepage Journal

    Alright, I guess this took more than mere "days", but who remembers it? https://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/DeCSS/Gallery/decss-haiku.txt [cmu.edu] [cmu.edu]

    I still remember it, and I can still sing the song! And in fact I was singing part of it to myself a couple of days ago.

    --
    ⓋⒶ☮✝🕊 Secession is the right of all sentient beings
    • (Score: 3, Touché) by Phoenix666 on Thursday September 03 2015, @06:37PM

      by Phoenix666 (552) on Thursday September 03 2015, @06:37PM (#231891) Journal

      I have the t-shirt

      --
      Washington DC delenda est.
  • (Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 03 2015, @04:30PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 03 2015, @04:30PM (#231838)

    You might be eating your words one day. Most devices these days are single SoCs, there's not much you can diddle with. If they introduce a SecureBoot like mechanism with signed firmware, tied to a hard-wired CPU key, you'll be boned.

  • (Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 03 2015, @07:50PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 03 2015, @07:50PM (#231926)

    > That "feature" will be cracked within days.

    Yeah? Is that why it took nearly half a decade for the PS3 to be permanently cracked and after nearly two years neither the xbone nor the ps4 have been cracked?

    And those are devices with tons of demand for cracking, orders of magnitude more demand than any router will ever have.

  • (Score: 3, Funny) by joshuajon on Friday September 04 2015, @04:25PM

    by joshuajon (807) on Friday September 04 2015, @04:25PM (#232315)

    I published a copy of DeCSS protected by a ROT13 cypher. Circumventing my copy protection would have been a violation of the DMCA. Pot meet kettle.