Date: Sat, 8 Jan 2005 11:58:05 +0000 (GMT)
From: Paul Jakma <paul@clubi.ie>
To: Jim Nelson <james4765@cwazy.co.uk>
cc: Lee Revell <rlrevell@joe-job.com>,
       Norbert van Nobelen <Norbert@edusupport.nl>,
       Raphael Jacquot <raphael.jacquot@imag.fr>, linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org
Subject: Re: Open hardware wireless cards
In-Reply-To: <41DDB02C.1030205@cwazy.co.uk>
Message-ID: <Pine.LNX.4.61.0501081154330.27046@hibernia.jakma.org>
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 <200501062032.13513.Norbert@edusupport.nl> <1105045205.15823.4.camel@krustophenia.net>
 <41DDB02C.1030205@cwazy.co.uk>
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On Thu, 6 Jan 2005, Jim Nelson wrote:

> Open-source drivers would make it trivial to make the hardware operate beyond 
> its legal limits - and could potentially land them in trouble with the 
> FCC/whatever.

This doesnt hold up at all, because the *closed* vendor software for 
some 802.11? radios will give you option to set the 'country' (and 
hence power), eg Netgear WG602v2 (an ISL3893 running Linux + 
proprietary mini-RTOS for the 802.11 bits + proprietary Linux side 
drivers to communicate between the two.).

Also, doesnt the USA have higher limits than most other countries? So 
the problem if anything would arise in /other/ regulatory domains, 
not FCC/USA.

regards,
-- 
Paul Jakma	paul@clubi.ie	paul@jakma.org	Key ID: 64A2FF6A
Fortune:
Democracy is the name we give the people whenever we need them.
 		-- Arman de Caillavet, 1913
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