TP-Link Begins Lockdown of Firmware In Response To FCC

An anonymous reader writes: In response to an FCC rule that requires manufacturers to lock down computing devices (routers, PCs, phones) to prevent modification if they have a "modular wireless radio," TP-Link has begun locking down its routers to prevent firmware not signed by TP-Link from being installed. This essentially prevents open source OSs (OpenWRT, for example) from being used on routers. TP-Link may not be a prestige brand, exactly, but the company makes a lot of routers suitable for installing third-party firmware, precisely the sort of thing being locked down makes difficult if not impossible.

Comments

Re:Except...

[internerdj]

Frankly, the easiest way to comply is just to lock everything down. It doesn't really matter how much the FCC bends over backwards to accommodate third party open source firmware. The ruling made it harder to make a business case for letting the end user change the firmware. Someone was bound to comply this way, probably a lot of someones.

Re:WOW

[mrchaotica]

I am conflicted. The same thing is happening on PC's with secure boot. It is arguable that this raises the bar for security but the down side is the fact that we lose some control over the devices we have.

What's there to be "conflicted" about? In all of these cases, the "security" is "security AGAINST THE OWNER OF THE DEVICE," a.k.a. tyranny. It is unambiguously bad!

Re:Don't these routers have external memory?

[AmiMoJo]

Isn't this a GPL violation? If any of the software they use is GPL v3 then they can't tivoize it in this way.