95 lines
4.2 KiB
HTML
95 lines
4.2 KiB
HTML
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
|
|
|
|
<html newsdate="2016-07-25">
|
|
|
|
<head>
|
|
<title>Compulsory Routers: what customers have to take care of now</title>
|
|
</head>
|
|
<body>
|
|
|
|
<h1>Compulsory Routers: what customers have to take care of now</h1>
|
|
|
|
<p newsteaser="yes">Up until now, Internet service providers (ISPs) in
|
|
Germany determined the router users had to use to connect to the
|
|
Internet. The user had no say in this decision. This changes on August
|
|
1. A new law will allow users choose the device that gets installed in
|
|
their homes. The FSFE wants to ensure everybody knows about their new
|
|
rights and is asking users to report cases in which ISPs try to avoid
|
|
the new regulation.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>"Compulsory Routers" are what we call the devices imposed on users,
|
|
forbidding them from using any other appliance to access the Internet.
|
|
Compulsory routers are often the subject of critical security flaws
|
|
which users can't legally or technically fix themselves. They are also
|
|
known to be incompatible with certain network devices and standards,
|
|
like IPv6, or to support only a small number of important features.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>However, the legal situation was ambiguous and ISPs defined the
|
|
first router or modem after the wall socket as part of their network.
|
|
They could thus bar users from controlling the technology installed
|
|
within their own homes, despite the fact that the users were even
|
|
paying for the electricity that run the devices.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>The Free Software Foundation Europe took up the fight to outlaw
|
|
Compulsory Routers in 2013, and we have finally <a
|
|
href="/news/2015/news-20151105-01.html">won a major landmark
|
|
victory</a>: from August 1 onwards, clients of German internet
|
|
providers are allowed by law to use any terminal device they choose.
|
|
Regardless of whether it is a DSL or cable connection, the ISP will
|
|
have to supply the information you need to connect an alternative
|
|
router to use the Internet and telephone network.</p>
|
|
|
|
<h2>Help us track the implementation</h2>
|
|
|
|
<p>The law is very clear with regard to your new rights, but, based on
|
|
past behaviours of ISPs, the FSFE must assume many providers will
|
|
ignore the regulation and will continue to try and force their clients
|
|
to use their default router.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>ISPs will probably make the argument that the law only applies to
|
|
new customers, or that a connection to the Internet with alternative
|
|
devices will be unstable, or denying support to clients with devices
|
|
other than the ones they provide.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>We want to make sure that these misbehaviours are made public and we
|
|
need your help for that. If you are a client of a German internet
|
|
provider, we ask you exercise your new right and start using an
|
|
alternative device, ideally one that runs Free Software.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>Once your new device is up and running, we need you to provide us
|
|
with feedback on whether you had any issues while running your new
|
|
router. We will collect this data and confront providers that are not
|
|
in compliance with the new law. We have also created a <a
|
|
href="https://wiki.fsfe.org/Activities/CompulsoryRouters/Implementation/Germany">wiki
|
|
page</a> where we report information, testing procedures, results, and
|
|
user experiences.</p>
|
|
|
|
<h2>Further information</h2>
|
|
|
|
<p>For more information on Compulsory Routers and why they are bad,
|
|
please visit our <a href="/activities/routers/">campaign page</a>. Also
|
|
see the <a href="/activities/routers/timeline.html">timeline of the
|
|
most important events</a> related to this campaign. To contribute to
|
|
this and other FSFE campaigns that defend your freedom, you can support
|
|
us with a <a href="/donate/">donation</a> or by becoming a <a
|
|
href="/join">sustaining member</a>.</p>
|
|
|
|
<h2>FSFE Summit 2016</h2>
|
|
|
|
<p>If you're interested in knowing more about how Free Software helps
|
|
defend other important rights, we will be holding <a
|
|
href="/summit16">the FSFE yearly summit at the beginning of September
|
|
in Berlin</a>. Come along and discover how you can also help return the
|
|
control over technology to people.</p>
|
|
|
|
</body>
|
|
<tags>
|
|
<tag>front-page</tag>
|
|
<tag>de</tag>
|
|
<tag content="Compulsory Routers">routers</tag>
|
|
<tag content="Competition">Competition</tag>
|
|
<tag content="Policy">Policy</tag>
|
|
<tag content="Germany">de</tag>
|
|
</tags>
|
|
</html>
|