FCC forces TP-Link to support open source firmware on routers

[thiggins]

The off-topic discussion has been moved. Stay on topic, please.

 

[SoCalReviews]

This is an interesting development... I'm wondering if the FCC got some blowback from the third party firmware community relating to this Tx power issue and maybe this is a way of showing support for third party firmware. I kind of like the idea of third party firmware becoming a standard on routers. However I do agree with others that it seems outside the FCC's legal jurisdiction requiring it. At least it's a step in the right direction for users even if it seems to be a nudge.

Now if we could only get Tx power level adjustment controls in router firmware a "requirement" for safety concerns and to help users decrease Wifi crowding and overlap if they want to lower Tx radio power.

 

[sfx2000]

I agree with SFX that this settlement is unusual and seems beyond the FCC's authority. It's one thing to encourage manufacturers to support installation of 3rd party firmware that doesn't muck with power settings. But it's entirely another to REQUIRE it.

If I can elaborate a bit more...

1) This is far outside of FCC's charter, which I mentioned earlier, which makes this very unusual

2) This ruling puts the FCC in direct conflict with the Library of Congress - who has authority over the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, as third party firmware could be considered "reverse engineering" which is prohibited by the DMCA, unless exempted by the LoC...

Interesting turn of events - a lot of people see the FCC as an agency full of ex-lobbyists, career bureaucrats and policy wonks - but the FCC has a deep cadre of some pretty sharp engineers - and here, in some odd way, the engineers won at a policy level - which is very good in a very odd way...

When looking at things from a DMCA perspective, it looks like the FCC is taking a very specific policy position - and this may be well outside of the TP-Link settlement mentioned at the start of this thread.