Re: Open phones for privacy/anonymity applications, Guardian

[Daniel Corbe <corbe () corbe net>]

On Jan 6, 2014, at 8:14 AM, Anonymous <anonymous () hoi-polloi org> wrote:

> > > GSM firmware is still not open-source though (as that would make
> > > phone not suitable for legal usage in USA)
> >
> > I'd like to see a law link that says you cannot legally use your own
> > open source GSM compliant stack to communicate over a GSM network.
>
> Since the GSM f/w controls a radio, and thus the power, it may need a
> FCC certification.  In which case you would need someone to finance
> the certification every time a new version of the Gnu firmware is
> released (FSF perhaps?).

What you just described would make all software radio illegal.  And I have personally seen some huge software-based 
deployments in GSM networks (Vanu BSCs come to mind).  The components of the radio subsystem are what the FCC 
certifies, not the software.  Closed vs Open Source makes no difference.

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