Open phones for privacy/anonymity applications, Guardian

Andy Isaacson adi at hexapodia.org
Mon Dec 9 18:55:21 PST 2013


On Mon, Dec 09, 2013 at 06:32:18PM -0500, dan at geer.org wrote:
> > GSM firmware is still not open-source though (as that would make phone
> > not suitable for legal usage in USA)
> 
> I lightly consulted with an operator and all he/she could
> offer was "Does Alexey mean the source to A5?" so I'll have
> to ask what it is that cannot be legally used in the U.S.?
> Anybody can implement and then open source any of the GSM
> standards (other than the crypto) so far as I know.

I believe that there's no law or regulation preventing anyone from
writing open source implementations of GSM in the US.

However there definitely are regulations preventing the sale or
operation of unlicensed intentional emitters, and the FCC definitely
cares about the GSM bands.  Getting a license for an open source
implementation of GSM would likely be a large expense, which AFAIK no
open source implementor has even started to try to undertake.

There is also federal law prohibiting the sale of equipment which can
intercept wireless telephony communications.  Many scanners have
filters or programming/configuration jumpers which prevent reception of
the specific frequencies covered by the law.  Depending on the reading
and the zealousness of the prosecutor, such a law might be seen to be
relevant to an open source GSM platform.

-andy



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