I'll be presenting at the SSTIC 2010 conference

I've been invited (as apparently the only non-french-speaker) to present at the SSTIC 2010 conference in Rennes/France.

There will be two presentations: One about OpenBSC, the other about OsmocomBB. Both will cover the use of the respective projects in the context of doing security analysis on a GSM protocol level.

The mid-term future of WebOS seems safe

After HP announced its acquisition of Palm, I think we can be sure that the mid-time future of WebOS seems quite safe. I also expect mechanically much better hardware among the devices they will ship.

However, the acquisition could also mean a shift in politics, i.e. cause the new devices to be locked down with cryptographically signed kernel images. One of the big advantages of the existing Pre and Pixi is that they are not locked down and that as a user you can take full control over the device.

Another policy that might come under re-evaluation is the relationship between the WebOS Application Market and the third-party application installers like Preware.

Lets hope the managers responsible for WebOS future realize that their chance is to be less restrictive and more open than most of the competition - including most Android devices. At least, one could hope, HP has quite some experience with Linux and the Open Source community in other areas of their business.

Sony faces class action lawsuit on removing the Linux support on PS3

As reported, a class action lawsuit has been filed against Sony in the US for removing the so-called Other OS feature from Playstation 3. The PS3 was originally advertised as being able to run Linux, and I know a number of people who have bought it for exactly that reason. Removing that feature after the purchase is thus significantly reducing the value of the product to many of its users.

I can only hope that this lawsuit will be successful. After I have bought a product, I own it and I decide what to do with it, not the original manufacturer. There have been somewhat related cases where Amazon removed already purchased books from the eBook readers of their customers. This is simply insane. With the ever growing power that corporations try to achieve over what their customers do or don't do, the outcome of this case might have significant importance for consumer rights in the decades to come.