FCC reported to be trying to prevent 3rd party WiFi device firmware upgrades

[Artie Lekstutis]

Has anyone else heard of this? Is this accurate? Bad news if it is. This 
would probably exclude the use of Broadband-Hamnet (and DD-WRT).

This is the Hackaday article that first brought my attention to this. 
Their stuff can be a bit fringe, especially their opinions, but is 
usually somewhat accurate:
http://hackaday.com/2015/09/02/save-wifi-act-now-to-save-wifi-from-the-fcc/

Here’s a direct link to the FCC website that specifically identifies 
DD-WRT as an example of needing to be excluded from all firmware updates 
for future regulatory compliance:
https://apps.fcc.gov/kdb/GetAttachment.html?id=1UiSJRK869RsyQddPi5hpw%3D%3D&desc=594280%20D02%20U-NII%20Device%20Security%20v01r02&tracking_number=39498

Except that it is conveniently unavailable now until the end of the 
comment period while “the FCC IT Team will be working to upgrade and 
modernize the FCC’s legacy infrastructure”. I was able to read it 
yesterday. Luckily I have a cached copy. I'm reluctant to distribute it 
even though it's an FCC document that was published publicly. If you can 
find a copy, see “II. SOFTWARE SECURITY DESCRIPTION GUIDE: Third-Party 
Access Control: 2”.

If what they are saying is true- this will exclude many very useful 
projects from being flashed on future commercial hardware of any type. 
This would include DD-WRT, OpenWrt, SECN, Broadband-Hamnet, HSMM-MESH, etc…

This in fact degrades security as it means you are now entirely 
dependent on the WiFi device manufacturer patching vulnerabilities, 
which they often don’t do or do very slowly, especially on older 
hardware. Options like DD-WRT usually address such vulnerabilities very 
quickly, if they ever had them in the first place.

I haven’t made a public comment yet. Still trying to understand the details.
https://www.federalregister.gov/articles/2015/08/06/2015-18402/equipment-authorization-and-electronic-labeling-for-wireless-devices

Thanks,
Artie Lekstutis
KC2MFS
73