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<head>
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<title>EU Radio Lockdown Directive - FSFE</title>
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<meta name="description" content="The EU Radio Lockdown Directive threatens Free Software, user rights, innovation, security, and fair competition. We can change that - join us!" />
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<meta name="keywords" content="radio equipment directive, RED, 2014 53 EU, radio lockdown directive, european parliament, european commission, regulation, law, lobby, policy, threat, freifunk, routers, signal" />
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</head>
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<body id="radiodirective" class="article" microformats="h-entry">
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<!-- Breadcumb -->
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<p id="category"><a href="/work.html">Our work</a></p>
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<h1 class="p-name">EU Radio Lockdown Directive</h1>
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<div class="e-content">
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<div id="introduction">
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<div class="right" style="max-width: 506px; width: 30%;">
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<img src="img/radiolockdown-cage.jpg" alt="a bird cage with a router and a mobile phone imprisoned, both sending radio waves" />
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</div>
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<p>Radio signals are everywhere and increasingly many devices connect using
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wireless and mobile networks or GPS. Legal regulations of the usage of radio
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signals are increasing, too. Now, a European directive wants to revise and
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extend them by demanding device manufacturers to check each device software's
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compliance. At first sight, this may sound reasonable but it has highly
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negative implications on <a href="#freesoftware">user rights and Free
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Software</a>, fair <a href="#competition">competition</a>, <a
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href="#society">innovation, environment, and volunteering</a> – mostly without
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comparably large benefits for <a href="#security">security</a>
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unfortunately.</p>
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<p>Many organisations and companies signed our <a
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href="/activities/radiodirective/statement.html">Joint Statement against Radio
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Lockdown Directive</a> in which we have formulated <a href="#proposals">several
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proposals</a> to EU institutions and EU member states with concrete steps to
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solve these issues.</p>
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</div>
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<h2>Briefly about the directive</h2>
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<p>In May 2014 the European Parliament and the European Council passed the
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Radio Equipment Directive <a
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href="http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX%3A32014L0053">2014/53/EU</a>.
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Its main purposes are harmonisation of existing regulations, improving security
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of radio spectra, and protection of health and safety. All EU members states
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have to implement the directive in national law until 12.06.2016 with a
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transition period of one year. The countries usually have some room for
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interpretation in the implementation process. The directive itself is not bad,
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and we support its aim at large. However, when it comes to the details of the
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software compliance assessment it seems that the lawmakers disproportionally
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disadvantaged users' rights and fair competition.</p>
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<p>In fact, almost all devices which can send and receive radio signals (WiFi,
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mobile network, GPS...) are affected. The crunch point is in Article 3.3(i):
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radio equipment shall support "<em>certain features in order to ensure that
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software can only be loaded into the radio equipment where the compliance of
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the combination of the radio equipment and software has been
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demonstrated</em>". This implies that device manufacturers have to check every
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software which can be loaded on the device regarding its compliance with
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applicable radio regulations (e.g. signal frequency and strength). Until now,
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the responsibility for the compliance rested on the users if they modified
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something, no matter if hardware- or software-wise.</p>
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<h2 id="freesoftware">Dangers for Free Software</h2>
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<p>The radio equipment directive 2014/53/EU will have a negative effect on
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users and companies. Because device manufacturers will have to assess every
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software regarding its compliance with existing national radio regulations
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(Art. 3.3(i)), we expect it to become impossible or very hard for users and
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companies to use alternative software on devices they bought – routers, mobile
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phones, WiFi-cards and the laptops they are built in, or almost all
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Internet-of-Things devices in the future.</p>
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<p>This not only is a severe burden for those affected but also violating the
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customers' rights of free choice. They will be locked in to software of the
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manufacturers because they cannot choose the software and hardware
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independently anymore. This aspect is crucial because alternative, especially
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<a href="/about/basics/freesoftware.html">Free Software</a>, often satisfies
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special requirements regarding security, technical features and standards, or
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legal demands.</p>
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<p>The status quo erects high barriers for customers to control their soft- and
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hardware. Increasingly many devices use radio signals, among them very
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sensitive ones like mobile phones, personal computers, household equipment, or
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the internet access gateways in homes and companies. For the sake of security
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and fair competition we have to make sure that people can always choose the
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software they want to run on their devices without additional constraints, as
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long as the software does respect current laws (see the <a
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href="#security">chapter about security</a>).</p>
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<p>We see negative outcomes of this directive already. Several manufacturers
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have installed modules on their devices checking which software is loaded. This
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is done by built-in non-free and non-removable modules disrespecting users'
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rights and demands to use technology which they can control. For the future we
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are afraid of modules not only checking software but for example also the exact
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location or behaviour of the owners. In the end that would make it harder or
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impossible to exchange software which works against one's interests, like
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spying on the respective user or business.</p>
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<h2 id="competition">Dangers for competition</h2>
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<p>There are many companies dependent on the usage of alternative and Free
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Software firmware on devices. Among them are wireless network providers,
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creators of more secure mobile operating systems, or programmers of
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custom-tailored and more efficient software solutions for existing hardware.
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All of them might be hindered and economically discriminated against by larger
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manufacturers with their infuse software. Alternative software is the
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foundation of many companies' products, and we should prevent economic
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disadvantages for them.</p>
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<p>Especially for smaller and medium-sized businesses we expect negative
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outcomes. First because of the dangers if their software is not or heavily
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delayed being assessed by manufacturers. Second due to the expectable high
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costs for those manufacturing enterprises having to assess each and every
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firmware thoroughly (see recital 29). This will also have an additional
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negative impact on start-up businesses.</p>
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<p>Concerning legal affairs we assume difficulties with existing license
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conditions, for example with the GNU General Public License. It requires all
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parts of the software to be under the same or a compatible license.
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Manufacturers having to include proprietary non-compatible software parts then
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might infringe the terms of the GNU GPL. This could force manufacturers not
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willing or able to include proprietary software parts to rewrite these huge
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parts from scratch which is impossible for many businesses and would hinder
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progress as it heavily slows down development.</p>
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<h2 id="society">Innovation, Volunteering, Sustainability</h2>
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<p>If the directive becomes effective without necessary exceptions (see below)
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this will affect basic conditions for innovation negatively. Progress is
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achieved by learning from past developments and walking new paths. If all
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communicative devices are locked down, a huge area of innovation will be
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too.</p>
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<p>Same applies to charity initiatives and organisations depending on using
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custom software on devices they bought. Efforts of volunteer associations, for
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example <a href="http://freifunk.net/">Freifunk</a> helping people in need to
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connect to the internet, may be rendered void or at least handicapped severely.
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Since we are sure that this implication was not intended by the European
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institutions we ask for necessary changes.</p>
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<p>Furthermore, alternative software on radio (and also non-radio) devices also
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promotes a sustainable economy. There are many devices still in working order
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which do not receive updates from the original manufacturers anymore. In most
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cases, Free Software firmware has a much longer support period which prevents
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users and customers having to dispose still working electronic equipment. In
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return, this also improves the security of users since older hardware still
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receives security updates after a manufacturer stops supporting those.</p>
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<h2 id="security">Speaking about security</h2>
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<p>We are in favor of the directive's aim to improve security of radio devices
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but not at the unbalanced expense of users' freedom and security in other
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areas. Firstly installing alternative software mostly helps increasing the
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devices' security. Secondly we are convinced that such strict regulations are
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not necessary for typical consumer products with limited radio output power.
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And thirdly we believe that such technical restrictions will not hinder those
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people willingly violating applicable radio regulations.</p>
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<p>Especially Free Software firmware projects are very advanced in terms of security
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measures, no least because technical errors get fixed quickly in collaborative
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and transparent processes. Alternative software solutions mostly have much longer
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security support cycles than the default manufacturer firmware. Many Free
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Software projects that are programming firmware for consumer devices address
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high security demands by offering special features the default software does
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not support. So instead of promoting security the current state of the radio
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equipment directive disables users and businesses to choose more secure
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software for their devices. If a software on a device actually violates a radio
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regulation it would be the more efficient way to support the software's
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creators instead of restricting users' independence on a massively broad
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level.</p>
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<h2 id="proposals">Our proposals</h2>
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<p>We formulated several proposals to EU institutions and EU members states.
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Many organisations and businesses support these goals and signed our <a
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href="/activities/radiodirective/statement.html">Joint Statement against Radio
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Lockdown</a>. We invite your organisation or company to also <a
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href="/activities/radiodirective/statement.html#sig">express your
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opinion</a>.</p>
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<blockquote>
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<h3>What we expect of EU institutions</h3>
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<p>We ask the European Commission to adopt delegated acts - as empowered by the
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European Parliament and Council (Art. 44) - which either </p>
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<ul>
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<li>make general exceptions for all Free Software not developed by the
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manufacturers of the respective radio equipment themselves but from other
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companies or individuals.</li>
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<li>do not shift the responsibility for the software's regulatory compliance
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from the users to the manufacturers when making changes to the default
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configuration. Software and hardware should not be treated differently in
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that respect.</li>
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</ul>
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</blockquote>
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<blockquote>
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<h3>What we expect of EU member states</h3>
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<p>We ask member state legislators to </p>
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<ul>
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<li>interpret the directive's provisions so that Free Software can still be
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installed on radio devices without discrimination, and users' rights are
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safeguarded. As pointed out in recital (19), third party software providers,
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such as Free Software projects, shall not be disadvantaged.</li>
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<li>make sure that small and medium-sized manufacturers will not be burdened
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disproportionally by being forced to assess each and every alternative
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software.</li>
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<li>make sure that users are not forced to install non-free software.</li>
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</ul>
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</blockquote>
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</div><!--/e-content-->
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<!-- No news yet
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<h2>Related news</h2>
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<fetch-news/>
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-->
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</body>
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<tags>
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<tag content="Radio Lockdown Directive">RadioDirective</tag>
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<tag content="Policy">Policy</tag>
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<tag content="Competition">Competition</tag>
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<tag content="European Parliament">EuropeanParliament</tag>
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<tag content="European Commission">EuropeanCommission</tag>
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</tags>
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<sidebar promo="our-work">
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<dynamic-content />
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<h2>Further Reading</h2>
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<ul>
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<li><a href="/activities/radiodirective/statement.html">Joint Statement against Radio Lockdown</a></li>
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</ul>
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<h3>Latest News</h3>
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<ul>
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<fetch-news/>
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</ul>
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<h3>External links</h3>
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<ul>
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<li><a href="http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX%3A32014L0053">Full text of RED 2014/53/EU</a></li>
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<!--<li><a href="http://blog.die-linke.de/digitalelinke/niemand-hat-die-absicht-freie-software-zu-verbieten/">Statement of German party DIE LINKE</a></li>-->
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</ul>
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</sidebar>
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<timestamp>$Date$ $Author$</timestamp>
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</html>
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