FCC Got 'Message Loud and Clear' From Free Router Software Fans, EFF Says of Clarification

The FCC got "the message loud and clear" from fans of free Wi-Fi router software, the Electronic Freedom Foundation (EFF) said Wednesday of the agency's clarification earlier last month (see 1511120056) that it won't encourage manufacturers to prevent firmware modifications. EFF and the Save Wifi coalition relaunched an FCC public comment platform so people could comment on the third-party firmware issue, and more than 1,000 people did, wrote EFF Director-Copyright Activism Parker Higgins. "Router makers rarely provide much in the way of support or documentation to people developing new software, and have a bad record on delivering software updates to end users," he wrote on EFF's blog. "We'll continue to monitor the progress of this proposed rule to ensure it can't be used to jeopardize the important role that free third-party software continues to play in the router ecosystem."