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FCC Clarifies: It's Legal To Hack Your Router (betanews.com)
Mark Wilson writes with an update to an earlier report that the wording of new FCC regulations could mean that it would be illegal to modfiy the software running on wireless routers by installing alternative firmwares. Instead, The commission has now acknowledged that there was more than a little confusion from people who believed that manufacturers would be encouraged to prevent router modifications. The FCC wants to make it clear that most router hacking is fine and will remain fine. With a few exceptions, that is. In a blog post entitled Clearing the Air on Wi-Fi Software Updates, Julius Knapp from the FCC tries to clear up any misunderstandings that may exist.
And the easiest way for users to give it the finger is not to buy that broken boxes and instead return to what we did in the 90s, using old computers as routers.
It's not like you can't build computers that have similar power consumption levels as those routers, with the added bonus that you can actually remove all the parts you don't need that only pose a security risk by their mere existence.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
It is NOT legal to hack my router, unless you have my permission, and you don't.
He and Dave Taht wrote the reply to the former rulemaking proposal, which *specifically* asked how the vendor would prevent purchasers from flashing it with DD-WRT. Please see the IETF submission at http://apps.fcc.gov/ecfs/comme...
davecb@spamcop.net