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Samsung has decided to proceed with the Bootloader blocking also in Europe, a move that has caused a lot of discussion. Behind this choice is a European regulation that will come into force in August 2025 and which risks changing smartphone usage in Europe forever. This is why other manufacturers may soon follow suit.

From 1 August 2025, new provisions will come into force RED Directive (Radio Equipment Directive), which redefines the compliance requirements for all radio devices sold in Europe. This is a significant change, not so much for the amount of regulations introduced, but for the effect they will have on the entire Android ecosystem. The issue revolves around three articles that impose specific protections: against network interference, personal data compromise, and digital fraud. These are, in themselves, sacrosanct rules.

But the crux comes with the interpretation prevailingEach device must ensure full compliance not only with the hardware, but also with the software that controls the radio modules. This is where the bootloader comes in. Unlocking it essentially allows you to replace the original operating system with an alternative one, such as LineageOS or GrapheneOS.

But these systems, if they modify the radio drivers even minimally, invalidate the CE certification. An uncertified device can no longer be legally marketed or used, at least according to the most stringent reading of the law.

This scenario has therefore led Samsung to protect its devices. Not on a whim, but to avoid any software modifications falling under your legal liability. If a user installs a ROM that interferes with radio frequencies or compromises communications security, the manufacturer (and in some cases the importer) may be held directly liable.

RED does not explicitly talk about unlocking the Bootloader or custom ROM, but it opens one regulatory space in which the margins for maneuver are they narrow. And in doing so, it provides a solid argument for those who have been trying for years to close the loop between hardware, software, and services. After all, customizing the operating system also means breaking away from proprietary services and, therefore, from the model that ties the user to the brand.

Samsung is just the first to move, but it's hard to imagine it will be the only one. Starting in August 2025, it's very likely that other manufacturers will follow suit, at least for the European market.

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[-] qaz@lemmy.world 8 points 3 hours ago* (last edited 3 hours ago)

Has anyone verified what this article says?

Here's the directive in question: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dir/2014/53/oj/eng It doesn't seem to imply what the article implies.

Also, here are some things from the discussion on HN

As is usual, there seems to be a massive misunderstanding what the directive is and means. The TLDR is that the directive contains no clauses that compels phone makers to keep the Android bootloader locked or that forbids EU users from unlocking it.

Samsung's public reasoning might be that disabling unlocking the bootloader because of the directive, but there is nothing in the directive that forces them to lock the bootloader. It does sound like a convenient scapegoat if they don't want to talk about the real reasons though.

The phone makes who end up disabling the unlocking of bootloaders are all doing so on their own accord, not because some regulation is forcing them to.

Finally, the EU’s broader right-to-repair policies makes it kind of impossible that an outright prohibition of unlocking the bootloader could happen. But of course, nuance doesn't make people click article titles on the web...

[-] mr_satan@lemmy.zip 15 points 7 hours ago

Lately I'm more and more disappointed in EU legislations. Especially having to live with them…

[-] IndustryStandard@lemmy.world 15 points 6 hours ago

EU went from frontrunner of internet privacy to asking for a gooner license.

[-] zqps@sh.itjust.works 3 points 2 hours ago* (last edited 2 hours ago)

There's so many lobby groups and national interests pulling in various directions that it's not really surprising to have both simultaneously.

TBH I'm still surprised GDPR ever made it through against the cries of every corporation on earth.

[-] WorldsDumbestMan@lemmy.today 6 points 6 hours ago

It's up to us to keep it free. It is one of the last lights in this world, and it must NOT go out!

[-] ssfckdt 6 points 6 hours ago

I mean, this is corporations using decent regulations as an excuse to do something they've probably already wanted to do.

[-] ssfckdt 4 points 6 hours ago

I don't understand why the user doing what they want to their own possessions has any impact on the original manufacturer.

Samsung isn't selling flashed devices as far as I know...

[-] ayyy@sh.itjust.works 6 points 9 hours ago

Do these stupid legislators not understand when they are being played for fools? Who gets to such a position without knowing what protectionism is? Unless it’s simple corruption?

[-] deathbird@mander.xyz 14 points 11 hours ago

This is really badly written, and that particularly annoys me because the subject matter is actually important.

[-] WhyJiffie@sh.itjust.works 22 points 14 hours ago

what an utter bullshit! will the manufacturer be also directly held liable if someone uses a phone of their brand to make a picture about me without authorization! of fucking course not!

fuck samsung, and all the manufacturers that follow suit, because this is just not needed.

but also fuck the red directive's decision makers for their unsatiable creep of wanting ever more power over our devices! this is exactly like saying, that there is this illegal thing, and if you are not doing it, but just have the slightest ability to do it, that is also illegal. what the actual fuck! get off my fucking phone you scumbags!!

[-] Cricket@lemmy.zip 29 points 16 hours ago
[-] WhyJiffie@sh.itjust.works 12 points 14 hours ago* (last edited 14 hours ago)

and by extension possibly secure router firmware like OpenWRT too?

[-] floofloof@lemmy.ca 5 points 14 hours ago

And meshnets that don't go through corporate infrastructure?

[-] Chill_Dan@lemmy.world 15 points 15 hours ago

The EU is pretty disappointing.

[-] cley_faye@lemmy.world 72 points 21 hours ago

WTF just happened in Europe in the last few months. We used to be some sort of (dimmly lit) beacon of user freedom and privacy considerations. Now, I know there's been a push for new legislations that basically fuck individual privacy over, but last I checked it was just a proposal. And now we're doing a fucking 1260° turn toward full stanglehold on everything.

[-] gandalf_der_12te@discuss.tchncs.de 32 points 20 hours ago

There's also this article from yesterday: Austria legalises state spyware amidst strong opposition

i wonder what changed. these regulations are certainly a threat. they justified it with the "threat of (islamistic) terrorism", though i don't know what's really going on there.

[-] plyth@feddit.org 8 points 20 hours ago
[-] gandalf_der_12te@discuss.tchncs.de 15 points 19 hours ago

What's really worrying me is this:

i.e. wars are waged because somebody is bored

[-] plyth@feddit.org 3 points 10 hours ago

Lame, not boring. Some people believe in war.

Supposedly this time it was pride that has prevented peace, I would say on both sides.

With Russia on Nato's side, there would be another Eight-Nation Alliance and China would be split, however ethical that would be.

Btw, Ex-Nato head George Robertson said Putin wanted to join alliance in the early 2000s but did not want to wait in line with ‘countries that don’t matter’

Vladimir Putin wanted Russia to join Nato but did not want his country to have to go through the usual application process and stand in line “with a lot of countries that don’t matter”, according to a former secretary general of the transatlantic alliance.

George Robertson, a former Labour defence secretary who led Nato between 1999 and 2003, said Putin made it clear at their first meeting that he wanted Russia to be part of western Europe. “They wanted to be part of that secure, stable prosperous west that Russia was out of at the time,” he said […]

https://feddit.org/post/16410454/8030302

I think at the deepest level the elite still believes in the Iliad and they want this war.

[-] iglou@programming.dev 3 points 12 hours ago* (last edited 12 hours ago)

As funny as the comic is, I am convinced that it will never get to that point, because an asshole with a thirst for power will always exist and be stronger than a bored asshole. Therefore war will keep, as it has always been, being motivated by power.

[-] CorruptCheesecake@lemmy.world 29 points 21 hours ago

It seems like "democracies" worldwide are taking advantage of Trump's ascension and pushing these policies under the cover of night.

[-] Grass@sh.itjust.works 17 points 20 hours ago

this is more or less the impression I get. Like all the shitheads are seeing just how much disgusting illegal shit trump is getting away with and thinking "I could do that too!"

[-] humanspiral@lemmy.ca 14 points 17 hours ago

If a user installs a ROM that interferes with radio frequencies

Do any "ROMs" or linuxes do this? Seems like you could get an "illegal USB bluetooth/wifi dongle" for shenanigans purposes instead. This all seems like such a pointless distraction that can only be to ensure that manufacturer backdoors are ensured as unescapable.

[-] bitwolf@sh.itjust.works 6 points 16 hours ago

I have never installed a ROM that touched the radio.

In fact most ROMs I've used warned against touching the radio because of the risk of damaging the device.

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[-] nuko147@lemmy.world 1 points 10 hours ago

Oh. I better make no mistake and update to Oneui 8 when it comes in my phone.

[-] plyth@feddit.org 28 points 21 hours ago

Chat message scanning can come in October, age verification is also introduced in various countries. Things are getting serious.

[-] CorruptCheesecake@lemmy.world 22 points 21 hours ago

The EU doesn't get to point at Trump's authoritarianism and feel all smug when they do this shit. Sorry.

[-] DFX4509B_2@lemmy.org 11 points 18 hours ago

Good luck applying this sorta lockdown to PCs.

[-] MangoPenguin 15 points 18 hours ago

Secure boot force enabled with preset certificates would essentially do that.

[-] Tiger_Man_ 1 points 11 hours ago

Some systems can bypass secure boot

[-] festus@lemmy.ca 2 points 10 hours ago

Only if the motherboard vendor allows you to. Imagine buying a Dell or Asus laptop and being forced to only run Windows.

[-] Tiger_Man_ 1 points 9 hours ago

So on most motherboards secure boot is just fake secure boot to satisfy windows?

[-] festus@lemmy.ca 2 points 3 hours ago

No. Thankfully (at the moment) vendors are allowing us to install other OSes, but if a vendor really wanted to lock you down to Windows all they'd need to do is hide one option in the bios. I'm uncomfortable with the idea that there's no technical reason preventing the PC industry from getting as locked down as Android phones did over time.

[-] DFX4509B_2@lemmy.org 6 points 17 hours ago

Except that would require a rewrite of the PC spec which I'm not sure would work out too well given the existence of loose mainboards for custom builds which ship with no OS by default and expect you to supply the OS yourself, ditto for niche manufacturers like Framework who also offer the option of letting you supply your own OS.

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[-] cookie019@lemmy.dbzer0.com 39 points 1 day ago

As far as I know our contractual law prevent being liable for damage caused by users own usage of a hardware or software. This is why tor browser developers arent in trial as liable for some scams that some users do using their software - because of their contract policy. So this excuse is jot valid - they locked bootloader jot because they are obligated or fear trial just because they do not luke private os which prevent them from harvesesting users data

[-] BananaIsABerry@lemmy.zip 10 points 21 hours ago

Potentially overreaching law is great excuse for an organization to make an unpopular change. Now it's not their fault, they had to do it.

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[-] umbrella@lemmy.ml 23 points 22 hours ago

layman don't understand how much of a crime this is.

[-] xia@lemmy.sdf.org 5 points 16 hours ago

Layman: "Does it have five gees or four like my old one?"

[-] gandalf_der_12te@discuss.tchncs.de 9 points 19 hours ago* (last edited 19 hours ago)

Wait - is this about all radio devices or only mobile connectivity ones?

I.e., is WiFi affected as well? Or does it only affect internet that you access through your carrier?

The article says:

From 1 August 2025, new provisions will come into force RED Directive (Radio Equipment Directive), which redefines the compliance requirements for all radio devices sold in Europe.

Which technically would also affect WiFi.

[-] j4k3@lemmy.world 197 points 1 day ago

Fuck smart phones and neo feudalism. This is theft of ownership with a criminal complicit government. I applaud all Luigi's these people deserve it. These are the killers of democracy. If your device only runs factory filtered stalkerware garbage, all democracy is dead. All information is easily filtered by this proprietary shit. Freedom of the press is a bullshit tiny niche of the broader requirement for a fully informed public. The fucking "press" is bullshit to highlight. You must have fully informed citizens and you may not choose how that information is shared or disseminated between citizens. This is not democracy. People are so fucking stupid.

[-] WhatAmLemmy@lemmy.world 82 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Notice how the article implies Samsung and other corporations don't want to do this, even though it's something they've wanted to do for a long time? They almost certainly lobbied and ghost wrote most of this legislation to begin with; now they play the victim, even though they're a perpetrator.

[-] antonim@lemmy.dbzer0.com 23 points 1 day ago

Notice how the article implies Samsung and other corporations don’t want to do this, even though it’s something they’ve wanted to do for a long time?

It's already disproportionately difficult to just root a Samsung phone, so this change perfectly fits the pattern. (Posting this from a new Samsung phone that I'm desperately trying to root.)

[-] Korhaka@sopuli.xyz 4 points 16 hours ago

I just don't buy android anymore. It sucks. Apple you always sucked too. Annoyingly society kinda requires me to have a phone so I will just get what ever someone else is throwing away or is very cheap second hand.

Reject their devices is the only real choice you can make. Don't give them money.

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[-] gandalf_der_12te@discuss.tchncs.de 9 points 20 hours ago

IIRC they're already doing this in China. I got hold of a chinese phone a while ago, and there was no way to install your own OS on it, you just had to use what came pre-installed, and i don't know how much state-sponsored surveillance was on that.

[-] gandalf_der_12te@discuss.tchncs.de 9 points 20 hours ago* (last edited 20 hours ago)

Wait, what does that mean for USB LTE devices? Devices that you can attack to a desktop computer to give you mobile internet. Last time i checked, they're widely available.

Would these become illegal as well?

[-] MonkderVierte@lemmy.zip 61 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

So what? Linux computers are not compliant, can not use wifi, or what? I don't see how that prevents unlockable bootloaders, other than being used as an excuse by the manufacturers.

[-] rmuk@feddit.uk 20 points 20 hours ago

It's a bullshit argument and this article is a classic example of a shitty journalist pretending that a new law overrules every other law in existence.

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this post was submitted on 01 Aug 2025
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