Feds snub open source for 'smart' radios

[Raphaël Jacquot]

Brad Midgley wrote:
> Hey
> 
> This got me thinking about how flexible the radio is. Is the sim card
> wired right into the gsm module?
> 
> It would be nice if the phone could play nice with sim access profile
> (SAP) either by sharing the sim credentials with another device or by
> gaining sim credentials from another device and setting up the gsm
> radio to use them.
> 
> Would the hardware allow for this?
> 
> Brad

the gsm/gprs modules handles accessing the airwaves, and does all that's 
required by the protocol to do so by itself, independently from whatever 
software controls it via AT commands. the SIM card contains your 
subscription informations, such as customer ID and the like.
there is nothing in the openmoko that the FCC would refuse validating.
the phone itself is *NOT* a Software Defined Radio.

on the other hand, the hardware developped by the Gnu Radio Project is a 
Software Defined Radio and will be subject to this crap, and they don't 
feel like they are much concerned about it, so I guess the openmoko 
crowd shouldn't be concerned at all.