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.
PC Computers are next
This is why the big deal with TPM
Why TPM is never a removable security device
Why you can’t save your old PC with a usb TPM device,
even though they are low power serial text devices
And TPM itself is just the thin side of the wedge.
It will grow more and more capable as an encrypted instructions processor
Eventually applications will run enough of their code
as encrypted instructions that they will become impossible to pirate.
This means application on your offline computer will be just as revocable as cloud application
and they will no longer be transferable, cryptographically tied to the processor core
Here is a taste of the future
You CAN’T Jailbreak Your PC
The days of “it’s my hardware, I’ll run what I want” are over.
TPM 2.0, Secure Boot, and Microsoft Pluton are forming a closed execution environment.
Try to run an unsigned OS, and it will simply refuse to boot.
Your motherboard no longer listens to you.
It listens to Microsoft and OEMs.
You Will Own Nothing, and Even That Nothing Is Tied to Your Old PC
TPM stores your encryption keys in a non-exportable way.
Your files, apps, and even your OS activation are now bound to your specific machine.
Want to move them to another system?
Too bad. The TPM won’t let you.
Even if you own both devices.
Installing Linux Will Be Illegal (Functionally, If Not Yet Legally)
Secure Boot + Remote Attestation is the death knell for freedom-focused OSes.
Digital preservation will be technically impossible.
Encrypted execution + hardware-tied software =
No way to archive.
No way to emulate.
No way to restore.
Games, apps, creative tools, all gone when the keys expire or the vendor shuts down.
It’s like that Apple ad crushing musical instruments but for your entire digital life
https://adage.com/video/crush-ipad-pro-apple/ (I couldn’t find it unedited on youtube sorry)
You Have No Mouth and Can’t Say NO
Vendor lock-in is no longer a commercial strategy.
It’s cryptographic reality.
Because your software won’t run without it.
A hardware-enforced, cryptographically sealed cage.
If we don’t fight back, there will be no root access left to reclaim.
What a fucking bleak run down. But it is the direction things are barreling towards.
Writing this the warning of Cory Doctorow about an upcoming “War on General Computing” was ringing in my head !
And also this video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4EmstuO0Em8
But he doesn’t talk about the TPM and cryptoprocessor threat or the “war on general computing”, it was in another video that I can’t find right now
I also can’t find the Apple Ad where they crush a piano and other instruments of creation under a giant press to make an ipad
I remember seeing that ad. It was super depressing. I hate what the tech world is coming to, why my next phone will be a dumb phone, I’m trying to buy dvds and keeping my circa 2017 vehicle running for as long as possible
The future is here but it’s not evenly distributed.
Hopefully we can stay alive in the future’s shadow.
But if it doesn’t run Linux I am not going to buy it
Microsoft is fine if you don’t buy computers anymore
It won’t miss you in particular
This is what’s going to happen with PCs
https://lemmy.ml/post/33992840/20208076
And the Linux foundation will just sit by letting it happen? Or Valve for that matter, they appear to have anticipated this risk over a decade ago.
Yes, Valve saw this possibility back in the days of Windows 8
But look at phones, the supply chains mostly delivery bootloader locked and unlockable devices.
And now the latest windows require TPM 2.0
It requires TPM 2.0 to be married to the CPU, non user removable
Microsoft Pluton is an early version of a crypto processor.
They are putting the pieces in place slowly
and they have all kinds of good reasons
“why this isn’t something you should worry about”
RISC-V’s time to shine! (IIRC it is open source instruction set).
And time to hold on to old devices. They’ll become like old cars: the only ones the owner can fully control.
Storage and processors don’t last forever. As parts break down, you won’t be able to replace them. Need a new hard drive? Sorry, it’ll only talk to motherboards that shake its hand.
RISC-V you are our only hope,
only use open source BIOS
Never factory bootloader-lock !
It is an open source architecture but it doesn’t prevent the OEM from adding anything to it to prevent user from doing anything on it. They can add TPM, locked bootloader with fixed signing key stored on board. They can add microprocessor inaccessible to anyone but OEM. They can add spyware, malware. All this without any need for declaring it or need to make it open source.
The only change RISC V brings is there is no need to pay for a hardware architecture, benefitting the manufacturer. Rather than bringing freedom to the user.
They probably want that, but also at the same time, that would kill software development.
Only approved AIs and humans carrying a corporately issued developer license will be allowed to develop software.
They would like it if only their employees were the only priesthood of all software development