Return-path: Received: from mail-qy0-f181.google.com ([209.85.216.181]:59656 "EHLO mail-qy0-f181.google.com" rhost-flags-OK-OK-OK-OK) by vger.kernel.org with ESMTP id S1751654Ab1BUOXV convert rfc822-to-8bit (ORCPT ); Mon, 21 Feb 2011 09:23:21 -0500 Received: by qyg14 with SMTP id 14so997160qyg.19 for ; Mon, 21 Feb 2011 06:23:20 -0800 (PST) MIME-Version: 1.0 In-Reply-To: <20110221095957.GA4568@redhat.com> References: <4CBF640C.4080405@broadcom.com> <1287674517.2383.7.camel@dcbw.foobar.com> <4D5EF0E9.4050908@lwfinger.net> <20110221095957.GA4568@redhat.com> From: =?ISO-8859-1?Q?G=E1bor_Stefanik?= Date: Mon, 21 Feb 2011 15:23:00 +0100 Message-ID: Subject: Re: Request for free-distributable Broadcom's (G|LP)-PHY firmware To: Stanislaw Gruszka Cc: Larry Finger , =?ISO-8859-2?Q?Rafa=B3_Mi=B3ecki?= , Dan Williams , Henry Ptasinski , Brett Rudley , Nohee Ko , Greg Kroah-Hartman , "linux-wireless@vger.kernel.org" , b43-dev Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8 Sender: linux-wireless-owner@vger.kernel.org List-ID: On Mon, Feb 21, 2011 at 10:59 AM, Stanislaw Gruszka wrote: > On Fri, Feb 18, 2011 at 04:21:29PM -0600, Larry Finger wrote: >> On 02/18/2011 03:24 PM, Rafał Miłecki wrote: >> >Few months later, is there any progress? Can we expect: >> > >> >1) Easier licensing of currently provided firmware (see Fedore case) >> >2) Firmware for LP-PHY devices >> >? >> >> I think we can forget this whole business. It seems that Broadcom is >> content with their business model, even though knowledgeable Linux >> users are avoiding their products like the plague. > > Broadcom will not release old firmware with redistributable license, > because of legal concerns, which are ridiculous for everyone except > them. > > http://lists.fedoraproject.org/pipermail/devel/2010-September/142893.html > > That sucks. > This looks like the same argument Intel is using to justify long delays before releasing new firmware - it needs to pass regulatory testing to ensure that regulatory restrictions in released FW cannot be circumvented. Both seem rather odd in light of Atheros's open-source firmware projects and general "conformant-by-default, but no "DRM" to prevent regulatory infringement" policy - though I seem to remember that Atheros acquired SDR certification, while Broadcom and Intel both went for regular "part 11" certification only. AFAIK the rules for SDRs are much more lax than those for part-11-only devices. > -- > To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-wireless" in > the body of a message to majordomo@vger.kernel.org > More majordomo info at  http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html > -- Vista: [V]iruses, [I]ntruders, [S]pyware, [T]rojans and [A]dware. :-)