Hey FCC, Don’t Lock Down Our Wi-Fi Routers

[Commentary] The future of countless open source wireless programs and projects might be in jeopardy. Proposed rules by the Federal Communications Commission have digital watchdogs and open source advocates worried that manufacturers will lock down routers, blocking the installation of third-party firmware -- including open source software like OpenWRT and DD-WRT. In March of 2014, the FCC updated its requirements for U-NII devices operating on the 5 Ghz bandwidth -- a designation that covers a wide range of Wi-Fi devices and routers. “In this particular case, this is about safety,” said William Lumpkins, Sr. Member IEEE, IEEE Sensors Council/SMC Standards Chair. It isn’t unusual, Lumpkins said, for the FCC to take steps to keep devices operating within their intended parameters. What is unusual, Lumpkins added, is for the FCC to call out -- by name -- specific software.

This March, the FCC published a guideline to help manufacturers meet the new requirements for the hundreds of new routers and access points that hit the American market every single year. So, is the FCC mandating that manufacturers lock down the whole router—including its operating system? Not really. Yes, regulating the airwaves is important -- especially as more and more Wi-Fi-enabled devices explode onto the market. But encouraging manufacturers (even unintentionally) to lock down entire devices -- making every part of them, as opposed to just the radio, unmodifiable -- is the regulatory equivalent of using a rocket launcher to eliminate with a rat infestation. You might get the rats, but at what cost? In this case, I’m hoping that open source communities don’t wind up as collateral damage.