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TP-Link begins router firmware lockdown due to FCC proposed regulation

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Re: TP-Link begins router firmware lockdown due to FCC proposed regulation

#51

Post by eli »

qb45 wrote: post #48
eli wrote: post #38

https://www.fcc.gov/news-events/blog/2015/11/12/clearing-air... TP-Link may well be locking down firmware, but it is NOT because the FCC is forcing them to.

How do you know? As your link says, they intend to prohibit selling hardware which can be modified to violate FCC regs. Since 3rd party firmware allows such violations, devices get locked down. How else are you going to explain the existence of separate US firmware which refuses to upgrade to international firmwares? http://www.dd-wrt.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=990535

The link does not say that. The FCC is gathering information for a proposed rule that could potentially impact hardware sold in the future. Nobody is being forced to do anything yet. There is no rule that prevents DD-WRT from being installed on a device.

So why is TP-Link locking down their firmware even though they aren't required to? You have to ask them.

Re: TP-Link begins router firmware lockdown due to FCC proposed regulation

#52

Post by qb45 »

tplinkxy wrote: post #40

And this is why, in a nutshell, linux should switch to GPL3. Right now there is no issue for TP-link to "preenmptively" block their hardware. If there was, they would think twice about it.

It's quite likely that they would prefer violating the GPL (nothing particularly unusual) or licensing VxWorks/Windows/whatever over risking being banned in the US.

Re: TP-Link begins router firmware lockdown due to FCC proposed regulation

#53

Post by tbyehl »

Tepix wrote: post #17

So are there still good, cheap 802.11ac routers that OpenWRT supports well? Now may be the right time to upgrade my 802.11n router.

I'm been replacing ASUS RT-N16s with RT-AC56Rs. $50 refurbs in-store at Microcenter, $75 new from Walmart.com, well-supported by all the firmwares that have ARM builds.

If you can't buy them that cheap the TP-Link Archer C7 has been a better value... well, up until now.

Re: TP-Link begins router firmware lockdown due to FCC proposed regulation

#54

Post by qb45 »

eli wrote: post #51
qb45 wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How do you know? As your link says, they intend to prohibit selling hardware which can be modified to violate FCC regs. Since 3rd party firmware allows such violations, devices get locked down. How else are you going to explain the existence of separate US firmware which refuses to upgrade to international firmwares? http://www.dd-wrt.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=990535

The link does not say that. The FCC is gathering information for a proposed rule that could potentially impact hardware sold in the future. Nobody is being forced to do anything yet. There is no rule that prevents DD-WRT from being installed on a device. So why is TP-Link locking down their firmware even though they aren't required to? You have to ask them.

> So why is TP-Link locking down their firmware even though they aren't required to? You have to ask them.

If you read TFA you'll learn that somebody did just that.

  Adam Longwill 09:26:19 pm Wow. Thank you. I'm impressed with your digging
  And this limitation is due to FCC rule clarifications in 2015?
  And not some other reason

  Camille 09:28:15 pm Right, due to FCC

Re: TP-Link begins router firmware lockdown due to FCC proposed regulation

#56

Post by slazaro »

neeel wrote: post #55
transfire wrote: post #34

Doesn't the old gun argument apply here? They're just punishing the average tech guy -- smart criminals will just find a away around it.

What's the gun argument

Restricting the sale of guns makes it harder for the average person, but the bad guys will always have a way.

Re: TP-Link begins router firmware lockdown due to FCC proposed regulation

#57

Post by lanaius »

qb45 wrote: post #54
eli wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The link does not say that. The FCC is gathering information for a proposed rule that could potentially impact hardware sold in the future. Nobody is being forced to do anything yet. There is no rule that prevents DD-WRT from being installed on a device. So why is TP-Link locking down their firmware even though they aren't required to? You have to ask them.

> So why is TP-Link locking down their firmware even though they aren't required to? You have to ask them. If you read TFA you'll learn that somebody did just that. Adam Longwill 09:26:19 pm Wow. Thank you. I'm impressed with your digging And this limitation is due to FCC rule clarifications in 2015? And not some other reason Camille 09:28:15 pm Right, due to FCC

You mean the original submitted article? Because in that article the person asks IF they locked them down, not WHY. There's still no answer as to why TP-Link thought it necessary to react to a nonexistent rule.

Re: TP-Link begins router firmware lockdown due to FCC proposed regulation

#58

Post by MCRed »

esbranson wrote: post #10

https://libreplanet.org/wiki/Save_WiFi The FCC publishes a 90-page document on an extremely technical subject and required any comments to be submitted within 7 weeks. It would take the average aficionado several weeks just to find out about it. The real issue here is that government agencies like the FCC are willfully excluding all but the best organized (read: best funded) groups from participating. And just like w…

Also, the FCC should not be able to make rules like this. This is why we have a three branch system. Congress doesn't have the legal power, in the constitution, to give agencies the power to make laws (Even if they call them "Rules")

Increasingly over time these rules are becoming more and more draconian and including things that most people oppose.

For instance, there was an outcry about CISPA and COPA that killed those bills... so the FCC made an 800 page ruling on "net neutrality" and people accepted it, because they wanted net neutrality. (And who has time to read 800 pages?)

Re: TP-Link begins router firmware lockdown due to FCC proposed regulation

#59

Post by tux1968 »

rsync wrote: post #45
mightybyte wrote: post #21

This is especially sad because the NYC Mesh project ( https://nycmesh.net/ ) to create a mesh network in NYC uses TP-Link routers pretty heavily.

"This is especially sad because the NYC Mesh project ( https://nycmesh.net/ ) to create a mesh network in NYC uses TP-Link routers pretty heavily." Won't all of those existing TP-Link routers continue to work and be unlocked to flash whatever you like on them ? Further, aren't there sufficient TP-Link parts in the supply chain from the last 4-5 years that you'll continue to be able to source them ? Genuinely curious.…

Whatever the answer to your question, that's very short term thinking to a longer term issue.

Re: TP-Link begins router firmware lockdown due to FCC proposed regulation

#60

Post by _ea1k »

throwaway2048 wrote: post #13
mbreese wrote: post #9

I'd be hesitant to trust what comes from a CS rep regarding a manufacturer's policy regarding the interpretation/compliance of an FCC rule. TP-Link may have just decided to lock down their devices regardless. I'm not saying this "report" isn't accurate... I'd just rather hear this from someone other than a random CS chat.

if there is any legal ambiguity whatsoever, they are going to play it safe

Yes, this rep is wrong. They started doing this before the FCC issue became an issue.
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