Just publish the spec

Posted Jul 12, 2007 11:37 UTC (Thu) by addw (guest, #1771)
Parent article: A green light for free-software defined radio?

As far as I could see it was all about the manufacturer not providing free drivers but shipping a blob instead. Fine: let them do that and get the certification, but let them also publish the full spec of the device - that way a free driver will appear in the kernel before too long. Everybody gets what they want.

Am I missing something ?

Just publish the spec

Posted Jul 12, 2007 12:40 UTC (Thu) by DRBaldock (guest, #30881) [Link]

To receive certification if the radio transceiver hardware can be programmed to operate in ways that are non-compliant with applicable laws, then the manufacturer has to provide some way to "force" compliance - either by firmware/hardware limits, or by assuring that the software drivers aren't easily modifiable by the user.

It's apparently the "also publish the full spec of the device" part that would cause the FCC to withhold certification in the first place. Or to withdraw the certification if the spec is published after the device is certified.