Re: Will there be Intel Wireless 3945ABG support?

[Alistair John Strachan <s0348365@sms.ed.ac.uk>]

On Wednesday 12 July 2006 09:19, Alistair John Strachan wrote:
> On Wednesday 12 July 2006 01:42, Thomas Tuttle wrote:
> > On July 11 at 16:16 EDT, Thorsten Kranzkowski hastily scribbled:
> > > On Tue, Jul 11, 2006 at 09:25:45PM +0300, Alon Bar-Lev wrote:
> > > > Also there is no good reason why supplying this daemon as closed
> > > > source... All they
> > > > wish is people don't mess with their frequencies, and sooner or later
> > > > someone will...
> > >
> > > Using interesting frequencies or output power would be fun for
> > > radio amateurs (like me). 2.4GHz is one of our playgrounds after all
> > > :-)
> >
> > Hear, hear!
> >
> > > Just because Joe Average isn't allowed to use such features doesn't
> > > mean that there aren't any legitimate users for it.
> > >
> > > Preventing the accidental use of unauthorized features would be enough,
> > > I think (warnings that force you to look up the manual to find out the
> > > correct --force option or similar)
> > > I expect developers to be sensible enough to only offer 'public legal'
> > > values in the default options list.
> >
> > Frankly, I think Intel is misinterpreting how strict the FCC is being
> > (or maybe the FCC is being too strict).  I would interpret their
> > mandates as meaning that, as purchased, equipment can't transmit on
> > unauthorized frequencies, and that it's not "user-modifiable".  User
> > modification doesn't include things like opening the case of a toy
> > walkie-talkie up and swapping out a crystal, nor does it include things
> > like opening up the firmware or driver for something and messing with
> > it.
>
> If you give Matthieu's link[1] a quick read, the OpenBSD developer that
> reverse engineered the regulatory blob seems to indicate that the FCC
> regulations are just an excuse, so Intel can hide their IP inside the blob.

Sorry, correction, reverse engineered the interface between the blob and 
driver, not the regulatory blob itself.

-- 
Cheers,
Alistair.

Final year Computer Science undergraduate.
1F2 55 South Clerk Street, Edinburgh, UK.