On Thu, 15 May 2008 15:58:33 -0500 "Jordi Gutiérrez Hermoso" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
... > There's actually a very real example of this in Debian, modifications > of BMWs aside. The iwlwifi driver uses a firmware blob that Intel > claims is necessary in order to enforce FCC regulations. This is Madwifi, too: http://madwifi.org/wiki/About/HAL > ridiculous. First of all, it's not Intel's job to make sure its > customers obey FCC regulations; if the customers break the > regulations, that's their problem, not Intel's. Second, again the You may believe so, but not everyone agrees. IANAL, but the above referenced Madwifi page justifies the need for the binary, closed source HAL by claiming that: <Quote> At least the USA Federal Communications Commission (FCC) requires that any manufactured products have a mechanism for limiting transmission power and frequencies, and that these mechanisms are not easily modifiable by the consumer. </Quote> ... > - Jordi G. H. Celejar -- mailmin.sourceforge.net - remote access via secure (OpenPGP) email ssuds.sourceforge.net - A Simple Sudoku Solver and Generator -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]