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>the radio in an iPhone can almost certainly be made to operate outside of licensed/compliant limits by tweaking the software. Should they be forced to allow th
by shiroiushi 2y ago
>the radio in an iPhone can almost certainly be made to operate outside of licensed/compliant limits by tweaking the software. Should they be forced to allow that but still held accountable when their device is noncompliant?
I can see an argument for this. Nothing forced Apple to design their hardware this way: they could have built licensing/compliance limits into the hardware itself. But they didn't want to do that because they wanted to use the same HW for all markets, and different governments have different rules about which frequency bands are allowed. Of course, this then brings up the question: if they did make slightly different HW per-market (perhaps with 1-time fuses), what happens when someone brings their iPhone from one country to another and they've modified it to ignore any new region restrictions (Apple could still use SW to force new restrictions, though they can't allow anything new because of the HW restrictions) and it's broadcasting on an unallowed band?
- throwaway2037 2y agoMy guess about roaming between different domestic and international regions: A handshake with the tower tells the phone what is the network type, then software (firmware) controls what frequencies to use. I just cannot believe in 2024 that this problem has not been solved many times over. What exactly is you qualm / concern?
- shiroiushi 2y agoThe point is that someone could modify the software to broadcast on disallowed bands: this is one of the main arguments against allowing user-modifiable software on smartphones (or any radio device).
- leetcrew 2y agoso what? broadcasting on unauthorized bands is essentially painting a "come fine me" beacon on yourself. surely the FCC (or it's Japanese equivalent) can handle these sorts of revenue opportunities without Apple's help.
- LeonB 2y agoIf Johnny Nobucks makes an illegal broadcast using an Apple device - or rather if Johnny Nobucks makes an app for the express purpose of doing the illegal broadcast, and distributes it to 1 million other users on Apple devices — the FCC equivalent would faaaar prefer to sue 1 rich person (Apple) - with a chance of getting big bucks — than 1 million and 1 poor people — (Johnny no bucks and his users). But I’m pretty sure Apple would be able to put together a license model that makes them safe in this case, long before they were put in any legal danger. Anyone who claims it’s an intractable is using it for a different purpose -/ either trying to keep their sweet monopoly - or wishing they could sue apple.
- throwaway2037 2y agoThis is an interesting point. Is it not possible to buy a SDR (software-defined radio) and broadcast 4G/5G signal on disallowed bands? Also, I remember watching a video about repairing an ancient Nintendo Entertainment System. If you remove the faraday cage (metal box) around the video out signal, it accidentally broadcasts on disallowed bands. (I don't remember all the details.)
- bee_rider 2y agoWatch them start distributing their programs through cartridges (hardware) to circumvent this type of law, or something ridiculous like that.