127 lines
5.5 KiB
HTML
127 lines
5.5 KiB
HTML
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
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<html newsdate="2026-04-30">
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<version>1</version>
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<head>
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<title>Victory after a decade preventing Radio Lockdown</title>
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</head>
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<body>
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<h1>Victory after a decade preventing Radio Lockdown</h1>
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<p>The European Commission is choosing to protect user’s right to
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install any software on their radio devices by deciding to abandon the
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specific article in the EU Radio Equipment regulation that was harming
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software freedom.</p>
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<figure>
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<img src="https://pics.fsfe.org/uploads/medium/78/90/86c0fc5abf4a34b96ba895a5a2f3.png" alt="Ilustration showing an open cage with a mobile phone and a router inside"/>
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</figure>
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<p>From 2014 onwards an specific article on the EU regulation Radio
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Equipment Directive (RED) threatened to make it impossible to install
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custom software on most radio devices like WiFi routers, mobile phones,
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Bluetooth chips in computers, GPS receivers, and embedded devices. It
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would have required hardware manufacturers to prevent users from
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installing any software not certified by them. </p>
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<p>After more than 10 years of <a href="/activities/radiodirective/radiodirective.html">persistent
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steady work by the FSFE </a>and a broad coalition of organisations, the
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European Commission decided in January 2026 to abandon this provision:
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Free Software on radio devices remains protected!</p>
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<p>This decision followed <a href="https://op.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/b9ea06a3-e076-11f0-8439-01aa75ed71a1/language-en">an
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impact assessment study commissioned by DG GROWEC’s DG GROW</a>
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(Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and
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SMEs), published in December 2025. The study evaluated five policy
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options and concluded that the risks associated with software
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reconfiguration of radio devices "remain theoretical and have not
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materialised in a systemic manner". It recommended a soft law approach
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based on voluntary guidance and best practices, rather than binding
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technical restrictions. Activating Article 3(3)(i) was found to severely
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harm Free Software, innovation, and user rights, while imposing
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prohibitive costs on small and medium-sized enterprises.</p>
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<p>Notably, the impact assessment cited <a href="https://download.fsfe.org/policy/radiodirective/RED_Legal_Study_Jaeger-2019.pdf">
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the legal study by Dr. Till Jaeger, commissioned by the FSFE</a>, which
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demonstrated that Article 3(3)(i) is incompatible with widely used Free
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Software licences such as the GNU GPL. The FSFE and the concerns raised
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by the Free Software community were explicitly referenced as reasons
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against activation.</p>
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<p>This outcome is the result of more than decade of sustained work with
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intense phases, but also phases of waiting for the right moment to get
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active again. Since 2015<a href="/activities/radiodirective/radiodirective.html">,
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the FSFE has been monitoring the regulatory process, contributing
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expertise to consultations, publishing analyses, and a broad coalition
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of organisations and individuals who raised their voices against Radio
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Lockdown</a>. It demonstrates that persistent, evidence-based engagement
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with EU policy processes can make a real difference for software
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freedom.</p>
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<p>This success would not have been possible without the many people and
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organisations who took action over the years. Thank you to everyone who
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contacted the European Commission and political representatives, who
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raised awareness about Radio Lockdown, who participated in public
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consultations, who signed the Joint Statement against Radio Lockdown,
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and all the FSFE supporters for their financial contributions enabling
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our work. Your engagement made a real difference.</p>
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<p>However, the underlying idea of shifting compliance responsibility to
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manufacturers — and thereby restricting which software can run on
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devices — may resurface in other regulatory contexts. </p>
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<p>So while the immediate threat of Article 3(3)(i) has been averted,
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the idea of restricting software on radio devices could resurface in
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other regulations. </p>
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<div class="standout-text-bggreen">
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<p><strong>Ensure that software freedom remains protected:</strong></p>
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<ul>
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<li>Stay informed about EU policy developments affecting Free Software
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via <a href="/contact/email-updates.html">the FSFE's news channels and newsletter</a>.
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</li>
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<li>Support <a href="/activities/deviceneutrality">the FSFE's ongoing work for Device Neutrality</a>, which
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safeguards users' rights to choose the software running on their devices.</li>
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<li>Help us continue our work by becoming a supporter of the FSFE.
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Sustained engagement with EU policy processes requires independent
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resources. </li>
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</ul>
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</div>
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<p>It often takes a long breath, patience, the expertise to spot the
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right time for action, and the resources to then actually act. With your
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help the FSFE will continue to defend the right of users to install or
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remove any software on any of their devices.</p>
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<p class="text-center">
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<fsfe-cd-donate-link class="btn btn-lg btn-primary">
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Become a supporter today!
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</fsfe-cd-donate-link>
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</p>
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</body>
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<tags>
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<tag key="news">News</tag>
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<tag key="deviceneutrality">Device Neutrality</tag>
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<tag key="european-commission">European Commission</tag>
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<tag key="radiodirective">Radio Lockdown</tag>
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<tag key="front-page"/>
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<tag key="highlights">highlights</tag>
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</tags>
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<discussion href="https://mastodon.social/@fsfe/116494042973379082"/>
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<image url="https://pics.fsfe.org/uploads/medium/78/90/86c0fc5abf4a34b96ba895a5a2f3.png" alt="Ilustration showing an open cage with a mobile phone and a router inside"/>
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<translator/>
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</html>
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