The FCC Wants Your Wi-Fi Router to Be DRM Friendly

[Pip]

The FCC Wants Your Wi-Fi Router to Be DRM Friendly

It appears that there may be a new fight on the horizon between Digital Rights Management (DRM) and open-source. Recently the Federal Communications Commission proposed new regulations for Wi-Fi routers, requiring that providers like Asus, Linksys, and Netgear only allow "properly authenticated software" to operate on the devices. It also states that if a router is running DRM-licensed software that it should not be modified and unauthorized third parties should not have access. Though "open source" not explicitly stated in the regulations document, DD-WRT - the open source Linux-based firmware project for routers - is mentioned by name. If these requirements proposed by the FCC pass, device manufacturers who wish to distribute in the U.S. will have to decide whether or not to enforce the government mandated DRM or allow open-source firmware to continue. How do you feel? Is this a good or bad move? Do you use open-source software on your Wi-Fi router?

[ctaulbee]

As they say in the Matrix, it's just another layer of control...

[VincentLupo]

We will all adapt as necessary.

[bankska22]

Hope so.