Re: [Fsfe-uk] Explanation of Tivosiation and problems - comments sought

[MJ Ray]

Ciaran O'Riordan <address@hidden> wrote:
> Chris Croughton <address@hidden> writes:
> > One person with a mobile phone with hacked software
> > can screw it up for everyone else
>
> So the mobile phone manufacture should put the miniscule piece of software
> that sets transmit/receive bandwidths into ROM and the rest of the software
> can be GPLv3.

Mobile phone systems should be designed to detect and deny service to
misbehaving devices when it is necessary to preserve the integrity of
the community resource.  If someone wants to hack the phone network,
they'll find a way, replacing the ROMs or whatever - security through
obscurity is unreliable.

> Medical devices and voting machines are ok for similar reasons.  Here's a
> fuller explanation:
> http://fsfe.org/en/fellows/ciaran/ciaran_s_free_software_notes/gplv3_embedded_in_devices

That's depressing.  If I end up as a user of a medical computer (which
seems likely at some point), then am I no longer deserving of free
software's freedoms as much as possible?

Verification and authentication are the keys to these problems, not
unmodifiable software, whether through ROMs or tivo-style locks.

Voting black-boxes seem impossible to use safely, so should not be used.

Hope that explains,
-- 
MJ Ray - see/vidu http://mjr.towers.org.uk/email.html
Somerset, England. Work/Laborejo: http://www.ttllp.co.uk/
IRC/Jabber/SIP: on request/peteble.