---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Harald Welte <lafo...@gnumonks.org> Date: Mon, 29 May 2017 10:14:07 +0200 Subject: Re: Creating GSM Users Association (GSMUA) To: Mychaela Falconia <mychaela.falco...@gmail.com> Cc: List for FreeCalypso community discussion <community@freecalypso.org>, baseband-devel <baseband-de...@lists.osmocom.org>, open...@lists.osmocom.org
Hi Mychaela, sorry for the late response. I think there is a legitimate need (for decades!) to represent the users at entities like GSMA or (much more importantly) the 3GPP and ETSI. 3GPP (and lesser extent ETSI) is where the relevant specifiations are written. Such an user representation would have a role to * identify where (new) specifications infringe on users rights * make sure the industry at least hears about what's in the best interest of users before they discard all of that and implement whatever they want anyway * Raise public awareness about new proposals for specifications that are particularly problematic from a user point of view, therby assert pressure on the standardizations body before it is too late (spec finalied). The areas that I can think of are mostly related to privacy, data protection, and general "digital rights". However, doing the above is fundamentally a lobbying organization, and requires significant funding, starting from membership fees to the relevant standard bodies, to paying for all the related travel expenses to attend the relevant meetings, and people with lots of time on their hands to read the respective draft standards, etc. I think it would be great to do something here, but I think we as the "super technical, ultra nerdy" people working on Free Software (and harwere) in the telecom sphere are typically not in posession of the right skillset to do so. It's much more about social skills than about technical skills. Regarding your proposal: It seems like a contradiction in terms to me if you establish something called an 'user association' while your interest is (at least partially) to represent "boutique manufacturers" regarding IMEI allocations. That's not really of the interest of a *user*. I think the least concern of a user is how and where a manufacturer gets his IMEI allocated. Yes, I agree there is something that can be done regarding TAC allocation (like IEEE OUI / MAC address allocation or USB vid/pid allocation). But that's not a topic for users. Regards, Harald -- - Harald Welte <lafo...@gnumonks.org> http://laforge.gnumonks.org/ ============================================================================ "Privacy in residential applications is a desirable marketing option." (ETSI EN 300 175-7 Ch. A6) _______________________________________________ Community mailing list Community@freecalypso.org https://www.freecalypso.org/mailman/listinfo/community