I have two ideas about what Broadcom is doing.
The b/g device with an ID of 0x4315 and an LP-PHY is the one that HP
has been shipping in many laptops for the past few months. Perhaps HP
wants to offer Linux on those computers, but doesn't want to use
ndiswrapper for wireless access. HP might have enough clout to get
Broadcom to budge a little on the subject of Linux.
It is also possible that they want to stifle our RE efforts. The
license accompanying the binary blob states:
"2.6. No Other Rights Granted; Restrictions. Apart from the
license rights expressly set forth in this Agreement, Broadcom does
not grant and Licensee does not receive any ownership right, title or
interest nor any security interest or other interest in any
intellectual property rights relating to the Software, nor in any copy
of any part of the foregoing.
Licensee shall not (i) use, license, sell or otherwise distribute the
Software except as provided in this Agreement, (ii) attempt to reverse
engineer, decompile or disassemble any portion of the Software; or
(iii) use the Software or other material in violation of any
applicable law or regulation, including but not limited to any
regulatory agency, such as FCC, rules."
Given some of the other parts of the license relating to penalties,
etc., anyone trying to RE this code could be in a heap of trouble.
Larry
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