FSFE on Router Freedom and Free Software in Municipalities
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Router Freedom: Belgium on the right way to protect end-users
The Belgian regulator BIPT has decided to safeguard Router Freedom for all connection types, including optical fiber (FTTx). The FSFE engaged in the public consultation urging policy makers to make this right a reality, and to improve monitoring over ISP practices.
Since 2018, EU countries have been reforming their telecommunications law, passing new rules concerning network infrastructure and internet devices, including authority over routers and modems. This process has been long and fragmented, leading to diverse outcomes that in some cases benefit end-users, but in others represent a serious threat against the right to choose and use personal routers/modems. In November 2022, the Belgian the telecom regulator BIPT drafted a regulatory framework for consolidating Router Freedom in the country. The FSFE welcomed the bold step and urged the policy maker to translate this right into reality by upscaling monitoring over internet service providers’ (ISP) practices against end-users.
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Router Freedom is the right that consumers of any ISP have to be able to choose and use a private modem and router instead of equipment that the ISP provides.
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Event: Municipalities Need Free Software - Dortmund is a Reference Municipality - FSFE
The City of Dortmund, together with Berlin and Munich, is founding the "Open Source Big 3" and setting up a "Coordination Office for Digital Sovereignty and Open Source". The Free Software Foundation Europe, the Do-FOSS initiative, and the Offene Kommunen.NRW association will provide information about these current developments in an online event on 11 January 2023.