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Sounds like another battle in the "coming war on general purpose computing" http://boingboing.net/2012/01/10/lockdown.html http://boingboing.net/2012/01/10/lock

by Chirael 11y ago

Sounds like another battle in the "coming war on general purpose computing" http://boingboing.net/2012/01/10/lockdown.html http://boingboing.net/2012/01/10/lockdown.html

task_queue 11y ago
Stallman was right.
- thinkpenguin 11y ago
  Yep. I think it's much worse than stallman's ever envisioned it though. He is under the impression we can fix it. The reality is likely otherwise which is why we need to drum up massive support for this. The rules in some part have already taken effect which means not only will we all need to send comments in on this but there will need to be further campaigns to undo rules already in effect.
tedunangst 11y ago
Only if the manufacturer insists on connecting the radio directly to the "general purpose" part of the computer, instead of using a more fixed/limited radio. If the radio is isolated, there's no need to lock down the rest of the device. But developing a fixed function radio will probably add a penny to the cost of each unit. So whether you can run openwrt will come down to whether linksys cares more about their pennies or your freedom.
- yuhong 11y ago
  I think one problem with this idea is that different countries can have different spectrum ranges or rules.
  - tedunangst 11y ago
    For example, Japan. Afaik, the fcc permits the sale of such devices, as long as they are not in "jp" mode. Would the proposed regs prevent setting a laptops locale to jp?
    - thinkpenguin 11y ago
      The new rules would effectively stop users in the future from flashing third party firmware altogether. Right now with $100 of equipment you can get around the signature checks as its just being done in firmware. In the future you won't be able to because companies will (likely) have to adopt tougher and tougher measures including tech from Intel and others. Intel designed its tech to be licensed out to others not in the X86 world. That effectively locked down Intel hardware already and no recent generation hardware can be completely free'd. LibreBoot is a 100% free BIOS that only works on older laptops because the lead developer can't port it to newer hardware due to locks that can't be overridden. The signature checks are done in hardware and you can't even just wipe out the firmware. No firmware means check fails means system doesn't turn on.

by Chirael 11y ago

Sounds like another battle in the "coming war on general purpose computing" http://boingboing.net/2012/01/10/lockdown.html http://boingboing.net/2012/01/10/lockdown.html

task_queue 11y ago

Stallman was right.

thinkpenguin 11y ago
Yep. I think it's much worse than stallman's ever envisioned it though. He is under the impression we can fix it. The reality is likely otherwise which is why we need to drum up massive support for this. The rules in some part have already taken effect which means not only will we all need to send comments in on this but there will need to be further campaigns to undo rules already in effect.

tedunangst 11y ago

Only if the manufacturer insists on connecting the radio directly to the "general purpose" part of the computer, instead of using a more fixed/limited radio. If the radio is isolated, there's no need to lock down the rest of the device. But developing a fixed function radio will probably add a penny to the cost of each unit. So whether you can run openwrt will come down to whether linksys cares more about their pennies or your freedom.

yuhong 11y ago
I think one problem with this idea is that different countries can have different spectrum ranges or rules.
- tedunangst 11y ago
  For example, Japan. Afaik, the fcc permits the sale of such devices, as long as they are not in "jp" mode. Would the proposed regs prevent setting a laptops locale to jp?
  - thinkpenguin 11y ago
    The new rules would effectively stop users in the future from flashing third party firmware altogether. Right now with $100 of equipment you can get around the signature checks as its just being done in firmware. In the future you won't be able to because companies will (likely) have to adopt tougher and tougher measures including tech from Intel and others. Intel designed its tech to be licensed out to others not in the X86 world. That effectively locked down Intel hardware already and no recent generation hardware can be completely free'd. LibreBoot is a 100% free BIOS that only works on older laptops because the lead developer can't port it to newer hardware due to locks that can't be overridden. The signature checks are done in hardware and you can't even just wipe out the firmware. No firmware means check fails means system doesn't turn on.