FOSDEM'10: Maemo 6 platform security [LWN.net]

FOSDEM'10: Maemo 6 platform security

Posted Feb 12, 2010 12:31 UTC (Fri) by buchanmilne (guest, #42315)
In reply to: FOSDEM'10: Maemo 6 platform security by brinkmd
Parent article: FOSDEM'10: Maemo 6 platform security

"it's up to the operator to decide if the device is sim- locked or not, and up to the user to buy it or not, there is nothing Nokia can do about it." which is blatantly wrong, as it is Nokia who provides operators with the opportunity to sim-lock the device and content providers to require a DRM software stack in the first place.

If you believe it is blatantly wrong to allow SIM card locking, then you need to get your country's communications regulations changed to prohibit it.

For example, in South Africa, SIM locking is not allowed. I haven't found it explicitly in the regulations, but the handset subsidy regulations specifies conditions that can not be met (by competing operators) if hand sets are locked.

The regulator has the power (in the mobile operator licenses) to force the operators to do what is in the best interest of their "shareholders" (you), whereas Nokia only has the power to offer a product to the operators . If Nokia did not offer the feature, then in countries where SIM locking is the norm Nokia would sell fewer phones via operator channels, and more users would be locked into proprietary platforms and into networks.

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FOSDEM'10: Maemo 6 platform security

Posted Feb 12, 2010 14:17 UTC (Fri) by brinkmd (subscriber, #45122) [Link]

If the users have a choice to refuse to buy SIM-locked devices, then Nokia has a choice to build such devices or not. In particular, Nokia then has further a choice to spend their dollars on better free software applications, or on DRM infrastructure that allows the proprietary market to enter the platform (they are trying to do both now).

Saying that adding DRM to the platform is necessary to get better games for example is actually quite an insult. Are the available games for GNU/Linux not good enough to attract a large number of people? If games are so important, why does Nokia not spend the millions it costs to develop DRM technology on developing awesome free software games?

Apple found a viable business model with the iphone, and Google (with Android) and Nokia (with Maemo) are now trying to imitate it. That's understandable. I am not sure if that's the only viable strategy for a phone company these days, but let's assume it is necessary. Then Nokia could still communicate these actions in a way that respects what the community decide with regards to DRM in the last decade, and answer the concerns about a deep fork in the code base with regards to the GPLv3.