SoylentNews
SoylentNews is people
https://soylentnews.org/

Title    New FCC Rules Could Ban WiFi Router Firmware Modification
Date    Thursday September 03 2015, @03:30PM
Author    LaminatorX
Topic   
from the from-my-cold-dead-hands dept.
https://soylentnews.org/article.pl?sid=15/09/03/1351234

SubiculumHammer writes:

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

Links

  1. "SubiculumHammer" - https://soylentnews.org/~SubiculumHammer/
  2. "Hackaday sounds the alarm" - http://hackaday.com/2015/09/02/save-wifi-act-now-to-save-wifi-from-the-fcc/
  3. "SaveWiFi campaign" - http://archive.is/tGCkU
  4. "this overloaded server" - https://libreplanet.org/wiki/Save_WiFi/Individual_Comments
  5. "A lot is on the line." - https://archive.is/Hf46i
  6. "this link to the Federal Register" - https://www.federalregister.gov/articles/2015/08/06/2015-18402/equipment-authorization-and-electronic-labeling-for-wireless-devices
  7. "Original Submission" - https://soylentnews.org/submit.pl?op=viewsub&subid=9279

© Copyright 2024 - SoylentNews, All Rights Reserved

printed from SoylentNews, New FCC Rules Could Ban WiFi Router Firmware Modification on 2024-03-28 11:10:55