Slashdot Mirror
Hack Your Phone, Go to Jail
thodu writes: "This bill [Mobile Telephones (Re-Programming)] in the UK aims to make it illegal for anyone to change a GSM phone's IMEI number. Though the intention in this case is seemingly for the good (to track and prevent stolen phones from being used), the line between legitimate mods and illegal hacks is increasingly becoming blurred. What next - a bill to disallow modifying your PC ?"
Do you know of any, because I sure don't.
Why shouldn't something that only serves theives (as far as I can see) be illegal?
He tried to kill me with a forklift!
TWW
"Encyclopedia" is to "Wikipedia" what "Library" is to "Some people at a bus stop"
hopefully it'll soon be illegal to change your mac address...
It seems that this legislation has a significant purpose. Changing the internal code violates the rights of the providers.
oh well. too slow today I guess. almost 20 seconds......
Whatever happened to the idea that when you buy something it's yours to do as you please? It seems to me that one doesn't actually own anything if you can't do with it as you please (ex. game systems, dvd players...now cellphones) Seems like the american tinkering pastime of 'hotrodding' is going the way of the dodo.
Never trust a bald barber; he has no respect for your hair
"What next - a bill to disallow modifying your PC?"
Didn't the Microsoft board already pass that bill and had Bill G sign it into law?
Flamebait, I know, but hard to resist. But really, it seems strange that XP requires you to re-register if too much hardware is changed on your PC. The only stealing it really prevents is duplicating a hard disk and installing that hard disk in a different computer containing different hardware. Ok, so it's Offtopic too, but it sorta relates to the whole "What am I not allowed to do now?" question.
Developers: We can use your help.
While I generally don't agree with restrictions on the use of hardware I buy, this is a special case. The law is intended to reduce the amount of phone-thefts in the UK (the phones are then reprogrammed and re-sold). There is currently a huge problem with phone theft over here which is driven by the fact it's so simple to give a stolen phone a new identity, so I don't think this legislation is over the top...
Code, Hardware, stuff like that.
No this is not the case with this law. There are no legit uses for hacking mobile phones. There are a huge number of people who do this (I think there was an article on the bbc website a while back but I am too lazy to look it up for referencing). This should indeed be stopped and it is nice to see a very focused bill instead of something that would do something stupid like outlaw EPROM burners altogether.
why do you think there could be no british slashdot readers? americans == idiots
I don't mean to troll here, but isn't this similar to laws against removing VIN (vehicle id numbers) and serial numbers from high-cost goods in the US?
Of course, if this law extends to prohibit other modification of the phone that interferes with fair use, I suppose that's different....
"First you gotta do the truffle shuffle."
What next - a bill to disallow modifying your PC ?"
In related news, there are laws on the books requiring that you not file off or modify your automobile's VIN. What next? Laws preventing you from painting your Red Ryder Wagon green?
Where is the legitimate use for this? Apart from the fact that this is done electronically, how is it any different from making it illegal to change your licence-plate number to someone elses, or changing the chassis number on a car?
Perhaps so, but the inverse is not true. When america fscks up an item of law, the rest of the world suffers with the american people, your DMCA is really screwing things up for the rest of us, likewise your entertainment industry bending (or just plain buying) changes in the law for their own interests, and then just wait as the american law seems to hold over the rest of us.
Mobile phone theft is a real problem in the UK, and has caused violent crime to rise sharply over the past year. Understandably, politicians and police in the UK are concerned, and are trying their hardest to stop the problem.
The UK telecoms operators have mobilised their SIM management systems to allow them to disable mobile phones according to the ID on the phone; previously only one or two of them did this.
Now saying this; I don't see how this Bill will do anything to stop the situation. The phones are stolen already, and are in the hands of the criminals. No doubt they have a stack of them in a warehousr; anything else just isnt' profitable. Anyone who thinks the piddling little threat of extra jail time that this Bill adds will stop the bad guys from modifying the phones are out of their heads. Do they really believe that the criminals care what this Bill says?
Its nothing but a quick headline grab, something for grining-Blair to point at and say "We're doing something about it, look!" and then allows him to get back to inventing rating schemes for various shitty public services, and cutting funding to the police forces.
The real answer is simply to pay the police more, recruit more, and put them out on the streets where they can stop the phones being stolen in the first place. Like that'll ever happen.
Would it be a fair analogy to compare the IME1 to the chassis number on a car? Would you back the right to be able to change (sorry 'hack') car chassis numbers legally?
We ARE the peat bog soldiers.
Are there any legitimate reasons for changing a phone's IMEI? It's like changing the vehicle identication code on the chassis of a car.
As long as they don't make it illegal to unlock phones from a particular network I don't see the problem.
Other than copyright of the internal code of the phone, there is no reason why changing the IMEI number of a phone should be illegal (and the copyright reason is a dubious one at that).
However, there should be a law in place to prevent phones with an incorrect IMEI number being used on GSM networks.
As has been pointed out, there is no genuine reason, other than research, to want to change the IMEI number of a phone - usually, the reason is to avoid blacklisting by networks such as Orange and T-Mobile (Vodafone and O2 do not operate such a scheme currently.)
If there are problems with people changing the IMEI number of a phone, perhaps the IMEI should be hard-coded into one of the chips in the phone - it would then make it a lot harder to successfully, and transparently, change a phone's IMEI number.
Essentially, what those who are attempting to introduce this law are saying, is that there is a need to do something about people changing IMEI numbers. And this remains the case.
Like car accidents, most hardware problems are due to driver error.
If you have windows XP installed that is.
A friend (a girl) was missing... we found her using the EMEI number of her cell phone. It was used by the police to track her and even pinpoint the location. So I could see why it should be seen as illegal...
i could also ask you, have you ever changed the serial number of your VCR or even of your palmtop?
OMG!!! WOOT!!!
What ever happened to using already existing laws? If it's already illegal to sell stolen phones (which I assume, perhaps incorrectly that it is), why do you need an additional law covering this? This reminds me of the added penelty of using a computer to commit a crime. If the hardware is mine, it should be mine to do with as I please. Arrest me for selling a stolen phone, not changing a few bits on equipmetn I already own.
SealBeater
-- Its survival of the fittest...and we got the fucking guns!!!
The fact is, there is no legitimate reason to need to change the IMEI number. This is a serial number, and it uniquely identifies each phone. Changing it is just the same as changing the VIN of a car. You can buy a used phone from someone else and activate that phone; this is actually easier than buying a used car and licensing it.
The comment "What next - a bill to disallow modifying your PC?", is clearly an attempt by the submitter to rouse emotions in people; to make them feel that they are being violated in some way by this bill. The bill is legit.
I consider installing whatever software I want or changing my MAC address modding my PC.
WOOOT
take a hint from the Mac, elegance through simplicity people!
To those Americans who are looking at this horrific action by our UK "friends" and thinking "Well, that will never happen here" .. wake up! If this country continues on its current course, rest assured that it most certainly will happen here. As long as people continue to vote for parties such as the Democrats, Greens, etc. you can expect things like this to happen here.
Vote either for the Republican or (preferably) Libertarian party if you want to see your country remain free, moral, and proud. The sons of bitches of Socialism will not win in this country.
Sorry, but I have no problems with this kind of law.
When your mobile phone gets stolen, all mobile phone operators who are enforce IMEI-based disabling will disallow phone calls. (Not all of them do this...)
This reduces the incentive to steal a mobile phone immensly.
It can have some unpleasant consequences though: some years ago, a batch of Nokia mobile phones was stolen, all of them with the same IMEI number. Those phones eventually ended up in stores, where they were, legally, bought by consumers.
Unavoidably, one of those phone got stolen and that IMEI number got blocked. As a result, thousands of people ended up with a disabled phone. Nokia refused to do anything about it, since they can be hold responsible for phone that were bought through 'grey' channels.
There are laws in place about stealing phone service...just enforce them. Don't create new, more specific ones. If we continue to let the government infringe upon our rights...it's never going to end.
"Herbivores eat well cause their food never, ever runs."
and how exactly is this different from, say, removing the Vehicle ID Number (VIN) from your car? discuss and explain, citing examples from the reading.
You can't even compare modding a case to this legislation. Nobody is saying you can't stick a fan and some neon in your phone, if thats what your really want to do. If you want to relate the article to computer modding, consider overclocking. Is it reasonable to wonder if they will make overclocking illegal, because scamsters could overclock a computer and sell this less-stable creation at a higher amount?
If you read the second link of the article, IMEI it would explain what it is used for and why changing it is bad.
Moderators?? INSIGHTFUL?? He's asking a question that's BLATANTLY EXPLAINED if you just click a link and scan.
That's as it should be. You baboons have demonstrated you're incapable of living a peaceful, civilized life. If America hadn't intervened and ran Europe after WWII you clowns would have fought three more wars with each other. The moment america leaves you guys will be hauling out your railroad car and trying to swap Alsace-Lorraine back and forth again.
Barbarians.
This is what a propose. I am going to buy three ships, I'll call them the Ni, the Pinto Bean, and the Santa Clause, and I am going to sail to Antartica and form America II. Whoever would like to go with me can do so, and we will break away from America like America did from Britan. In America II when you buy something you can do whatever you want to with it, (I know this article is talking about UK, but humor me). In America II you can buy a DVD player that's not coded for Antartica and play Antartica movies on it, if you can hack it. In America II you can type whatever you want break into whatever system you want and copy anyone's work, so long as no one gets physically injured and your not breaking the law. Oh, also I will be needed someone to setup a wireless ISP for me once I arrive.
What is an IMEI number?
...
The GSM MoU's IMEI (International Mobile Equipment Identity) numbering system is a 15 digit unique code that is used to identify the GSM/DCS/PCS phone to a GSM/DCS/PCS network.
When a phone is switched on, this unique IMEI number is transmitted and checked against a database of blacklisted or greylisted phones in the network's EIR (Equipment ID Register).
This EIR determines whether the phone can log onto the network to make and receive calls.
What effect does a listing of an IEMI number with an EIR have?
If the EIR and IMEI numbers match, the networks can do a number of things. They can for example greylist or blacklist a phone:
-Greylisting will allow the phone to be used, but it can be tracked to see who has it (via the SIM info).
-Blacklisting bars the phone from being used on any network where there is an EIR match
So if I get wrongfully (or rightfully) blacklisted, my mobile becomes worthless, even if I sell it to Grandma.
If I get greylisted, the phone companies and (this being the UK with its RIPA Act) any government agency from MI5 to the local library, can track me.
I think this is a little alarming.
What about if I want to sell my phone after I've discontinued service and switched providers? Does this present a problem? Granted, I'm American, so this doesn't affect me, but hypothetically speaking, I'd like to know.
"I may be quite wrong." - Socrates
I really don't think they care what you do to your phone- it's yours to do what you like. I think what they do care is how you present yourself to the cellular network (the IMEI number). To do that, it happens to involve changing the phone, but I don't think the phone is the real issue here- it's the network.
slashdot!=valid HTML
This law prolly has more to do with the telco's inability to audit their own records and control their network than with cell phone theives.
and if they had their ring set to the max volume, death.
=-Jippy
The problem here is that they are not just stopping you hacking the IMEI. I know of no legitimate reason to do this.
As far as I am aware though, this bill also stops you hacking things that there is good cause to. Things like unlocking your phone so that you can use it abroad with other networks.
If they're planning on fencing a stolen phone anyway, will one more law stop them? They've already broken one law by stealing the phone.
Why don't the phone manufacturers just make it read only? Isn't that much simpler than passing a law, and in everyone's best interests?
What next - a bill to disallow modifying your PC ?
Isn't this the purpose of the DMCA? To ensure that if "copyright protection measures" are included in your PC (or other "digital device"), it's illegal to remove them?
rooooar
The lazyness of the Technology Companies amazes me, instead of developing safe protocols avoiding users to do whatever they don't want to, they try to solve this problem by creating laws and acts that legaly prohibit the users to user their equipament the way they want to.
IMHO Tech Co. should be treated just like us, regular citizens that must adapt ourselves to the new technology to keep employed.
It is really sad to see all this "moneyfull" companies doing whatever they want to the people of countries that call themselves democratics.
Something must be done...
-=-=-=-=
I know life isn't fair, but why can't it ever be un-fair in MY favor!?
It's illegal to steal a phone, right? If I've stolen a phone, I'm probably not gonna be vastly upset to have to break another to make it usable.
:-)
The only people who'd want to change the IMEI (that I can think of anyway) would be hackers etc who want to either learn some stuff or develop some stuff. Nothing too harmful there IMHO, and if the phone isn't stolen I can't really see the phone co. saying anything more than "sorry, your warranty's just gone bye-bye" if you do this. Fair enough.
I can see one point to this law though. At the moment, I can take any phone into any phone shop, and have the IMEI changed in 10 minutes, no questions asked. This law will stop this happening. It means theives will have to get the equipment and knowledge to do this themselves. In that sense, it will slow down casual mobile thefts. It'll never stop it, cos there'll always be people who can do it, and shops which will do it under the counter. But hey, it's a start.
Personally, I'm quite happy with my IMEI number, so I'm not overly fussed about not being allowed to change it
Read it here. Section 1 makes reprogramming a phone's unique ID illegal and section 2 makes the possession and supply of devices to that end illegal too.
However, the Act makes it clear that for an offence of possession or supply to stand, intent of unlawful use needs to be proved too. It's pretty much equivalent to the "going equipped for burglary" offence really.
The throwing of your own cell phone is now a criminal offense in China. The Chinese prime minister was quoted as saying "If you choose to THROW your PHONE you WILL go to JAIL".
The bill is sufficiently vaguely worded that it covers changing the unique identifier of any wireless communications device. Of course, "wireless communications device" isn't defined in the bill, but it might cover wireless ethernet cards in a laptop for example. And using ipconfig to change the MAC address would be an offence. Possibly, owning a copy of ipconfig or supplying it could be an offence. I can think of several reasonable uses of changing a card's MAC address.
Also, I just checked parliament's website and this isn't a bill, it has been passed as an act! Soon to become law no doubt.
AHHHH!!!
Every day the government becomes more like my middle school.
-- Nerds on toast in the new millenium
I read what someone up there said:
:P
"However, there should be a law in place to prevent phones with an incorrect IMEI number being used on GSM networks."
I totally agree, but isn't this in the terms and conditions anyhow? So whats the point of bringing in the law!?
Damn the EULAs.
Dug
No, the problem here is not so much lazyness (which occurs frequently enough in other areas) as the plain old fact that "The Client Is In The Hand Of The Enemy". And it's going to be very difficult to implement a unique phone id on the "server"-side for this. So in the end it is something like your TAX ID or the number on your house. You can't change them, because in doing so you would effectively slip out of the system and damage it's functionality.
Yes. It will be the bill that makes it illegal for computer owners to bypass intellectial property protection software on their computer. This includes, but is not limited to, installing Linux.
It's already illegal to change the ESN on a phone in america. dunno if it applies to the IMEI, because that isn't actually used for billing, but why in hell would you want to change it anyway?
What next - a bill to disallow modifying your PC?
Quiet! Don't give them any ideas!
If you *had* read it, you'd have read the line that notes 11. The equipment required to reprogramme the IMEI number may also be used for other legitimate purposes. The clause makes it clear that the offences are committed only if the person intends to use the equipment or allow it to be used for the purposes of making an unauthorised change to the IMEI number, or knows that the person to whom he supplies it or offers to supply it intends to use it or allow it to be used for that purpose
Anecdotally, there are cases of people being bombarded with malicious, nasty text messages, who live in fear of their phone ringing, but they still need that phone. It's their freedom versus the abuser's privacy. There has to be a mechanism to disable a malicious caller's phone. Everyone in the UK seems to have a phone nowadays, abuse and theft of phones is a big problem. Society has gained overall, even if a few have lost the freedom to hack phones for fun. By not hacking, indirectly, you're making people's lives better. You can't have your cake and eat it.
Aren't there already laws against USING someone else's phone number. I mean you use a service someone else is using. That sound suspiciously like STEALING.
However, there is absolutely nothing morally wrong about taking an item that YOU OWN (like a cell phone), and doing whatever you want to it, including stealing.
However, using that to perform illegal acts is a different story.
Wouldn't it be more effective just to outlaw Cell phones all together? That would really take care of the problem at the source.
As everyone has pointed out, there is no legit reason for changing an IMEI and making it harder to change IMEIs will cut down on (violent) phone theft, save lives and make the world a better place. However, legislating is not the solution. If it's illegal to change an IMEI, phone manufacturers will argue that it isn't a problem that they're easy to change; the new law has 'fixed' that problem. If there is no law against it, the government has more leverage to pressurise the phone companies into fixing the real problem, which is that it's very easy to change the IMEI number. On the other hand I'd be in favour of a law banning the sale of phones with changeable IMEIs. Whatever happened to non-erasable PROM memories?
But if I copy an existing number, then by definition, the numbers are no longer unique and thus another poorly thought out Act bites the dust.
Better luck next time.
You can't run two phones on the same account by giving them the same IMEI number. You would need two SIM cards and get the phone company to link them. The SIM card controls the billing and stuff (indirectly) and if you put the SIM card from one phone into another then you can use the second phone on your account, you just can't use the first phone at the same time because you only have one SIM. The IMEI number is just a serial number for the phone, not the SIM card.
--dan
Just imagine someone passes a bill making it illegal to change your license plate.
Uhh, directv sent letters to over 100,000 Americans telling them not to illegally modify their smartcards to pirate TV. They estimate (quite rightly) that there are over 1 million directv receivers in America that are hacked illegally. That's almost 10% of all satellite receivers.
Considering this, why doesn't the UK look at the stats and realise that just because its illegal doesn't mean people won't do it. Not to mention that theft of mobile phones is already illegal anyways.
It doesn't matter wether there are legitimate reasons for chaging the IMEI number or not. The fact is that changing it because you have a stolen cell phone is the reason for this bill. It therefore in and of itself is redundant. What a waste of taxpayers money, and another reason why I don't like visiting the UK (number two would be because the law there can strongarm me into giving away keys to any data they wish, and number three because I find the virtual panopticon the UK has become quite distasteful).
Just my 2 cents.
If you could be told what you can see or read, then it follows that you could be told what to say or think - BoC
This bill is needed. Now before all the geeks go on about their god-given right to impress their friends with new IMEI numbers(?!) i'll tell you something.
EVERYONE I know here in Britain who owns a mobile has had one robbed at some point in time. People have been murdered for their mobiles as they're an easy target, especially from children, and the resell value is high. There are some places I wouldn't go with a mobile visible, not that I would go waving it around anyway.
There are some freedoms worth fighting for but - the right to change an IMEI number? Get a grip. I'd prefer the right to walk down the street without getting the mobile robbed.
Oh, and not being able to change the IMEI means the phone can be permanently barred or even tracked. If it's changed you're stuffed.
seany
Your average mobile phone thief is not a technologially inclined guy. They are street toughs, no more.
The only reason that they steal the phones, is that they can sell them on. If the IMEI number isn't changed, then the networks will block the phone, giving a useless item, and no cash. So they take the phone to the local friendly techie, who, legitimitly, will change the IMEI number.
The law would allow the police to move against the people who facilitate the crime, in an effort to stop it being profitable, rather than directly at the criminals. If there's no profit in the activity, it should just stop.
Whether it will work, remains to be seen.
The law should say that simply doing this mod isn't illegal, but that it is sufficient grounds for a search warrant/wire tap/other investigative methods. After all, the IMEI was put in specifically to fight theft and cloning. It seems reasonable to assume that anyone changing it is probably going to do something illegal with it.
Nope, no sig
If you chopped off the chasis number on a car you own,
/legitimate/ reason you'd want to chenge your IMEI...
IMHO this doesn't seem so much like chopping off the chassis no. (serial no. - still legal to remove those, assuming you don't do anything else illegal) but rather changing your license plate numbers (your IMEI no.) - the former set of no's only serves to identify the static piece of hardware, but the latter actually identifies your particular piece of hardware as being registered and cleared for operation on its particular network (of roads, as the case may be).
i really don't see what the issue is with this - it's illegal to change your license plate numbers, even though that's soley based on the premise that "anybody who changes tag numbers is up to noo good cuz nobody's demonstrated a legitimate use for it yet" - and frankly, i can't think of a really
Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored. - Aldous Huxley
my client who runs simcard development business paid ~US$100,000 royalty and signed a NDA before any actually development started.
So you wanna hack this damn little thing and get away with it?
This thing is no toy. Billions dollors businesses are driven by this *damn* little thing.
I've downloaded tools from the internet to remove the service provider locks on phones I've legally bought (these have nothing to do with the IMEI number, they're locks that prevent someone buying a phone with, say, BellSouth DCS, and then using it on a VoiceStream network), and the tools generally have the dodgy "change things like the IMEI and other things that shouldn't be changed" functionality as well as the useful bits. This is not, IMHO, a good thing...
I don't see any reason to oppose IMEI number protection laws, and see every reason to support what the British government are doing, unless service providors start preventing people from using their networks who haven't bought their "official" hardware, but given that no network makes a profit from the sales of hardware, I don't see such a foot-shooting exercise occuring any time soon. If ever.
KMSMA (WWBD?)
Can someone tell me how hard it would be to make
a phone which the IMEI could not be changed, I don't know, encoded in the hrdware so any attempt to change it will cause the phone not to function.
Surely if this was done the discussion would be superfluous.
Surely it is the responsibility of phone manufactuers to improve phone security.
Choose your allies carefully, it is highly unlikely you will be held accountable for the actions of your enemies
But the law will make it the manufacturers' responsibility to make it harder to change. It;s easily changed with a firmware hack (I've seen the option in GSM unlocking programs). Since the law was enacted in the USA, it's become much harder to change the ESN, but then, the ESN is used for much more than tracking here, it's used for billing, also.
It's not about potential bad uses! It's about one (1) very real bad use.
Changing the IMEI number is bad. It is only useful for thieves. Period.
The user gains NOTHING by changing the IMEI, since he is identifying himself by the SIM card mounted in the phone at the moment he is using it. All user access, the number the phone reacts to, network info etc. is loaded into the SIM card, not the IMEI number.
The phone is identifying itself to the phone company and they check (they should!) in the register to see if the phone is stolen or not. They would rather not provide this service and some do not, mainly in poor countries where my stolen phone is most likely in use right now.
This government big-brother thing you are trying to pull here is not valid. SIM card is what they track, not IMEI numbers.
-- From Denmark
This is a three stage process.
Punk Steals a someone's phone and sells it. There are laws against this.
Some guy buys the phone, unaware it's stolen. (They have to prove he knew it was stolen to charge him with anything.)
Same guy changes the IEMI number on the phones. Currently no law against this, it's perfectly legal.
Someone buys the newly changed phone, unaware it's a stolen phone, that has had the IEMI number changed. Might get the phone confiscated, but this person hasn't done anything illegal either.
They're creating a law to deal with that middle man, the guy who drives the entire industry, the one who changes the numbers, and allows the stolen phones to be used again.
The IMEI number is also ESSENTIAL for tracking. Were there no IMEI, or could people change their IMEI at will, a criminal (you, me, anybody who needs to be tracked for some reason) could just change the SIM on the phone. With hundreds of different kinds of pre-paid SIMs out there, some of which don't even require ID at the point of sale, how would it be possible to track anyone and/or monitor their phone calls?
As evidence, look at the PentiumIII ID code Intel tried to push on us a few years ago. Uproar over that forced Intel to phase it out. People don't WANT to be tracked. They don't WANT their actions monitored. Even more than being about modifications, it's about privacy. If we can portray it in that light, we stand a very good chance of fending off attacks like this.
Generally, the people changing the IMEI number are not the same people who steal the phones. So (at the moment) the former are acting legally, while the latter are criminals. This bill makes it illegal to assist criminals in this way.
Reality is defined by the maddest person in the room
Though the intention in this case is seemingly for the good...
/. editor saying this, you know that 99% of the rest of the people in the world will think it's great.
When you hear a
Outdoor digital photography, mostly in New Engl
a) Stealing something (a phone) is illegal.
b) Selling something you've stolen is illegal.
So how is this law going to make a difference? What is MORE illegal about modifying something you've stolen? Is this going to somehow prevent people from selling stolen and modified phones because they could get caught when the phone connects to the network?
Also:
If you want to change the number on your phone, and you're not going to steal it (since you own it!), what's the harm?
If you want to change the number and sell the phone, they could simply require a notification to the buyer that the original number was X and the new number is Y.
What's the big fuss??
"Sometimes the truth is stupid." - Lawrence, creator of Prime Intellect
IMEI's identyfy the particular phone.
SIM cards indentify the particular user.
All the government-big-brother BS is just not valid. Tracking people is done by tracking SIM cards. No one cares what phone a terrorist is using, they care what SIM card he is using.
IMEIs have one use: Preventing theft. The person in possession of a phone gains nothing, nada, zero (you get it) by changing the IMEI unless he is a phone thief.
-- From Denmark
I mean, honest to god.
What thinking person would worry about such utter silliness?
How would The Man(tm) *ever* enforce such an utterly hypothetical law?
Answer: it can't happen.
But it is further proof that most of what's posted as tag lines to "News for Nerds" on /. is just troll after troll after troll to sucker people into posting responses.
Remember, k1dd13s: more posts == higher advertising rates.
t_t_b
I'm on PJ's "enemies" list! Are you?
The comparison between this and modding your PC is incorrect. Modding your PC is like giving your car a lift job, while changing the IMEI number is like removing the vehicles VIN.
There could be no legitimate reason to do either of those things. Please don't blow things out of proportion like this.
CMBurns
Online Starcraft RPG? At
Dietary fiber is like asynchronous IO-- Non-blocking!
First off... A thousand apologies (and one I'm sorry) if I'm repeating an existing post. I wasn't able to read all the discussion as I am at work and can't stay on too long. Here's a quick explanation of the two things about cell phones I've seen so far. First the IMEI number. Several people have compared them to Automobile VIN numbers. This is dead on accurate! Basically an IMEI is like a serial number that states "I am Cell Phone #1101". The only really useful way I can think of to change that number would be to trick someone into believing that Cell Phone #1101 was in fact Cell Phone #11111. If anyone can think of a practical use for changing an IMEI other than that, I would honestly be interested to hear it. (And no that is not the way IMEI numbers are formatted, but who really cares). When you activate service you give the service provider this number so they can know which phone you have and also where to send the activation signal (which I usually bypass and activate the phone manually, the service people take FOREVER!!). After activation the IMEI number also tells the service provider where to send your phone calls to. BTW, some phones have an ESN instead of an IMEI. I'm a little fuzzy on the difference, someone once told me it had to do with what sort of network is used, but I'm not sure. They're essentially the same as IMEIs as far as I can tell, if anyone knows for sure the difference and doesn't mind explaining it to me, let me know. The other thing mentioned was the SIM card. This is basically a memory chip, but not for your regular storage stuff (phone numbers, ringtons, etc.) The SIM card stores your phone number and some other things (I'm honestly ignorant on the SIM cards other functions, again feel free to educate me). So that's what I know (or at least what I think I know). I may be way off base. If I am, please forgive me. From what I know, it seems that messing around with the SIM card may or may not be illegal and that might bear some looking into. Messing with the IMEI/ESN numbers unless done for illegal purposes would be pretty pointless. You could change your IMEI/ESN in your phone to one that matches an already activated phone, and have a duplicate of their phone able to make and recieve some poor guys calls. For what it's worth, Caller ID's would show calls from your phoney phone to be coming from a different number than the poor suckers'. I guess that really wouldn't matter to the thief unless he's playing some serious mind games with the sucker (and it really wouldn't be too terribly hard to fix that phone number issue). My point is, without having a law against messing with your IMEI/ESN, the only useful reason to do so is already illegal (as has been stated before), so rather than cluttering the books with duplicate laws, let's just use the ones we have. That's all for now, I hope I haven't irritated anyone too terribly much, and I hope my memory and education have served me and I haven't made too many SNAFUs. Take care
6. It is expected that the creation of these new offences, taken together with the implementation of a handset barring system across all networks, should help remove the incentive for mobile telephone theft.
How silly! It doesn't matter a thieve anyway. It will only bring the buyer into difficulties, maybe he even doesn't know that the cellphone is stolen...
Alex.
You look like a million dollars. All green and wrinkled.
No need for this. Lawyers are already taking care of this problem.
When you outlaw mods, only outlaws will have mods...
Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government.
I don't know if you're from the UK, or if you regularly go car booting, but if you did you'd probably notice how every one seems to have at least three stalls who do nothing but do this for people. I'd like it very much if the Police could raid these people at will and haul them off to jail; they are so clearly assisting mobile phone thieves and no-one else that its insane. Making it illegal won't stop it completely, but you can be certain it will make these scumbags lives more difficult.
"I Know You Are But What Am I?"
"All for Queen and Country, right James?"
damn police state
Jesus saves souls and redeems them for valuable cash prizes
This story needs a little background information.
In the UK mobile phone theft are becoming epidemic. These thefts are usualy violent and brutal, and in several cases have resulted in deaths.
These crimes have been rising due to several of the Mobile Phone networks deciding that it was not cost effective to impliment already known systems to track and disable stolen phones. This includes tracking, identifying and disabling bogus IEMI.
Since this has resulted in a crime wave, and the Industry (with a few notable exceptions) is not moving to rectify, the goverment felt the public demand to step in. As the companies are reluctant to spend the resources on tracking this under fraud statutes, legislation is being presented to make it illegal to modify the IEMI.
The thinking behind this is simple. At the moment you can have a phone 'unlocked', legaly, with no questions asked. This makes it much easier for gangs to fence stolen phones, and gives an incentive to criminals to target mobile phones. This has resulted in violent atacks to steal them.
Thus, if you tighten the restrictions on ability to 'unlock' mobile phones you put a stopper in the illegal trade.
FOLKS -- Please remember that there is a difference between a 'BILL' and an 'ACT'. A bill has not become law yet. Most bills are either rejected or changed a *lot* before they become the law of the land.
:)
Thank you
X.
You're talking about France and Germany. Oh, and by the way, maybe you should think again - at least we Brits resisted Fascism. You people could have cared less until just after Pearl Harbour..
And if us Brits weren't moderating your idiot President's foreign policy moves, we'd be that much closer to armageddon.
Arrogant bastards.
It's not that hard. The link in the story is to the explanatory notes. The actual bill is here.
On a topical note, all the griping about "Why shouldn't I be allowed to..." is just slippery slope hysterics.
If you actually want to build a 'phone from components, then you can do whatever the hell you like with it, because you're the "manufacturer". However, if you want to buy a 'phone and then screw around with the identifier on it, you're doing something no different from changing the VIN number on a car. There's only one reason why you'd have to do that: to enable fraud. You can argue "But I own it and I just wanna", but in both cases that's simply an argument that principles are always more important than pragmatics and that nothing should be illegal if there's no direct, immediate victim. The law has to strike a balance between freedom and the probability that an act has a criminal purpose. In this case, it's overwhelmingly likely that an actual crime with an actual victim is involved.
The point of this bill is to enable prosecution of workshops set up to change IMEI's on stolen 'phones. It's a real problem, and it's part of a crime with a real victim, usually on the receiving end of violence. There's actually a very reasonable clause in here that protects equipment that merely could be used to change an IMEI: "The clause makes it clear that the offences are committed only if the person intends to use the equipment or allow it to be used for the purposes of making an unauthorised change to the IMEI number, or knows that the person to whom he supplies it or offers to supply it intends to use it or allow it to be used for that purpose." The prosecution has to show intent, so don't throw a hissy fit just because you've built an IMEI programmer for your self built IMEI 'phone. Not that anyone here has or intends to build such a 'phone.
Still not seeing it? Consider your next car purchase. You inspect the car, note the VIN number, do an HPI check, and it looks clean. Two weeks later, the police turn up and tell you that you're driving a stolen car and you have to return it to the rightful owner. You're completely out of pocket. This happens all the time. Now, how would you feel if you found that the garage that sold you the car had modified the VIN number and documentation, and that this wasn't illegal? And that it wasn't illegal because of the high principled argument that once they'd bought the car, they could do anything they damn well liked to it? Would you be pissed off? I think so. So, do you think that should it be legal to modify VIN numbers? If not, why should it be legal to modify IMEI numbers?
This is a balanced, reasonable, useful bill, and all the shrieking and Chicken Littling doesn't make it otherwise.
If you were blocking sigs, you wouldn't have to read this.
Anyone placing wagers on whether Clause 2 will ever get invoked the way HP just used the DMCA to quash the Tru64 crack?
Clause 2: Possession or supply of anything for re-programming purposes
10. This clause creates a number of offences ancillary to the offence created by clause 1. These linked offences are having custody or control of the equipment for the purpose of unauthorised re-programming (subsection 1), and supplying (subsection 2) or offering to supply (subsection 3) the equipment to someone for that purpose.
11. The equipment required to reprogramme the IMEI number may also be used for other legitimate purposes. The clause makes it clear that the offences are committed only if the person intends to use the equipment or allow it to be used for the purposes of making an unauthorised change to the IMEI number, or knows that the person to whom he supplies it or offers to supply it intends to use it or allow it to be used for that purpose.
12. The effect of subsection (5) is that possession by, supply to, or the offer to supply to the manufacturer of a mobile telephone, or someone with his written consent, does not amount to an offence under subsections (1), (2) and (3).
13. Unique device identifier has the same definition as in clause 1. The penalties for each of these offences are the same as for the offence created by clause 1.
Stop-Prism.org: Opt Out of Surveillance
no seriously, how do you do that?
>This bill makes it illegal to assist criminals in this way.
AFAIK, in the UK is always been illegal to be an accomplis to a crime. I would assume changing an IMEI number for someone intent on a criminal act would make you a willing accomplis to the crime.
If you could be told what you can see or read, then it follows that you could be told what to say or think - BoC
... and there is still thieves changing car VIN. Why should things change? When you break the law, this is not another law that will stop you, this is the police.
./ passd by heart anyway
Maybe this law is intended to make their job easier but I personally think it will just make the thieves charges heavier when they'll be caught.
gotta learn my
Yvanhoe
The intended use of the IMEI is 3 fold:
1) To give SIM-less phones something to identify themselves to the network with, so they can make emergency calls.
2) To identify an individual phone or model (IMEIs are constructed so that each model and manufacturer has a known range) in case it's so broken it causes serious problems to the network.
3) To identify stolen phones.
IMEIs are not used to identify users. The IMSI does that, and you can't change it. There is NO good reason to change it unless you want to get around 2 or 3. You're identified by something you can't change, so privacy etc has NOTHING to do with it. (And why would any network allow fully anonymous access? There aren't any that allow totally free airtime + no incoming calls, so they need to ID the subscriber somehow. If you're that bothered, buy a pre-pay with cash. They'll stil be able to track you, they just won't have a clue who you are)
It should also be noted most service providers have only recently started to use EIRs (the thing that lists good and bad IMEIs) because they are of no benefit to them. Someone using a stolen phone but paying the bill? Great! Someone using a stolen phone and NOT paying the bill? Ban the IMSI.
Why don't they make it illegal to steal mobile phones in the first place? Surely that will stop the criminals! Oh, wait, they already thought of that... :-)
Arrrrrrghghgh!! When are people going to learn that making else something illegal doesn't stop criminals from doing something that's already illegal in the first place? They're CRIMINALS for bob's sake!
Once DRM is 'integrated' ( and legislated ) most any mod of your pc could be concieved as a 'anti DRM' hack id bet..
'but officer, it was just an old cdR drive i had laying aronud.. i wasnt gonna copy that disk... honest'
---- Booth was a patriot ----
"What next - a bill to disallow modifying your PC ?"
Yeah, there isn't much a different between your desktop and your cell phone at all.
Question: If there are so many people in a country willing to steal mobile phones that it is economical for many stores to be within easy reach to help commit a crime, is there not a much larger problem that needs to be solved instead?
In my opinion, if there's so many phones being stolen, an act to require mobile phone makers to make their phones less like candy to pirates (ie: Make the IMEI number "impossible" to change) would be in order instead.
This law just moves it out of the public's eye, and removes it from the long arm of the law. I assume its easier for a cop to question the owner of an IMEI shop for some help rather than find an underground phone stealing ring. But that's just my guess.
If you could be told what you can see or read, then it follows that you could be told what to say or think - BoC
Blatant troll with the libertarianism, too. Nobody'd be so ham fisted if they really "believed." This is like those Muskie posters Nixon had put out, isn't it? You're really a Communist trying to discredit the other side, right?
(If any party's going to push this sort of policy, it's the Repubs. The card-carrying ACLU members of the Democratic party have some clue, sometimes. The green party's got the whole consumer protection thing going on with Nader, they wouldn't put this as priority #3,000 on their list. The Republicans, though, would cast it as a law-and-order problem crossed with fighting terrorism and call it an election year issue.)
"Fundamentalism" isn't about divine morality. It's about human authority.
Well that is true of course, but it's not so simple. How is a "legitimate" businessperson to know that a phone has been stolen. Obviously most of them know, but in court I doubt if they could be convicted as the law stands...
Reality is defined by the maddest person in the room
Alright, just so we're clear, modifying your computer is, or at least SHOULD BE illegal. Just think about it. If you are adjusting the multiplier on your Athlon, you are effectively stealing from AMD. Anyone who is USING a 2 gigahertz processor had better be paying for it. There's no such thing as a free lunch. When those prices keep going UP UP UP on computer hardware, remember, it's the thieves -- like Billy down the street with his home-brewed water cooling system -- that are driving those constant increases.
;)
The sad thing is that nobody seems to realize. "It's my computer, my cell phone, my automobile," they say -- but never think of the poor corporations who worked uncountable man-months to bring these technological innovations. When you've got an innovation that great, you aren't going to be able to make it any better with your little "mods." can't you people just shut up and consume products like you're told? Or are you all pinko commies?
-=Ivan
Stealing cell phones is already illegal, yet cell phones are getting stolen.
Do you really think that criminals are more likely to abide by a law that prohibits changing a GSM phone's IMEI number, than a law that already prohibits stealing them?
What's that? You didn't download the software? Someone PUT it there, you say? A trojan? You didn't know what it was for? Sure, sure.. now give me your GPG passphrase or it's another 2 years for you.
I'd like to know, myself!
The people stealing and selling the stolen phones are breaking the law already, what makes anyone think they won't break this new law and change the IMEI number. Stupid.
Need Free Juniper/NetScreen Support? JuniperForum
This has an obvious solution- Let the consumer choose whether he wants the number to be locked or not. Let him check a box on the activation form stating that the number cannot be changed. Then, if a consumer can have the right to modify the number and assume the risk of theft himself. If there is enough demand for this, cell phone companies would offer it.
Speaking as someone who used to work in the engineering department of a telecommunications company...
Many telecomms networks are relatively vulnerable to rogue devices. The companies who run the networks put everything they're going to let on their network through amazingly rigorous testing before it's allowed out into the field, because they are aware of this problem, but there is little else they can do to prevent it that is cost effective. The time it took me to make every possible type of call to every possible combination of other units on the network with a new device (which multiplies up to several thousand call types) and verify that every single one worked correctly is negligible compared to the down-time and loss of customer satisfaction caused when a device goes wrong and starts effectively spamming your network and using up all your bandwidth.
Sometimes, the rogue devices are simply phones that have broken, or a change near a base station that's interfering with things. Other times, it's some smart-ass hobbyist who thought he was being clever, and who takes out a whole region of the network for the morning while an on-call team of engineers sorts out the mess.
Guess how high an opinion I hold of people who like to tinker with publicly accessible services just to know they can? :-)
If you disagree, post your argument. (-1, Overrated) isn't your personal censorship tool for views you don't like.
Oh, piss off. I don't care if you're joking or not .. accusations of Communism are not something to throw around lightly. The only thing I can think of that would be worse than that would be an accusation of homosexuality. You don't like what I have to say so you attack me personally instead. That is the logical fallacy of post facto ergo prop.
Changing your GSM telephone's ID number has no realisting positive use, and a myriad bad uses. I'm tired of these constant bickers about how we can't roll up and mod everything under the sun.
Grow up, we live in a world made of rules. We don't get to hack them very often, do we. Like Gravity...
"Learning is not compulsory... neither is survival."
--Dr.W.Edwards Deming
I'm in the U.S.
My cell phone (Ericsson T19LX) has an ESN number on it. Is this the analogue to the IMEI number?
And just for phun, does anyone know of any tools (hw/sw) to use to talk to this phone or get any interesting info out of it?
"Sometimes the truth is stupid." - Lawrence, creator of Prime Intellect
Why doesn't the relevant authority assign a range of IMEI numbers for research purposes, that are ignored by all networks, just like the I.P. address range 192.168.1.1 - 192.168.255.255, and make it legal to modify a phone to use those IMEI numbers?
Incidentally, in the car industry, it's called ringing, so what's it called in the phone industry?
In Latvia there are only two competing mobile phone operators; one of them blocks IMEI that are reported as stolen and another does not. The first operator uses this fact to bad-mouth the competitor: "Look at these bastards! They allow stolen phones on their network." And the second operator counteracts, saying, "On your network there are as much stolen phones as on our. Every kid knows that IMEI can be changed. However, the equipment to block by IMEI is costly and, by not buying it, we and our customers save money as our rates are lower." This is a little bit funny to see all this tit-for-tat.
However, I don't really think that checking IMEI codes have much use. Correct me if there are any statistics, but I don't think that many stolen phones has been retrieved using this protection. Ultimately it only fosters those shady businesses (illegal or not) who perform IMEI deprogramming.
Yes, it makes harder for thieves to sell stolen phones but the question is does it curb theft considerably to pay back all the equipment? In my view it is the same protection as computer network security which relies on MAC addresses.
well at least we don't say things like "pip pip!" and "cheerio!" and "jack's a doughnut!" and all of that crap
the british language is inane
> What next - a bill to disallow modifying your PC ?
Don't users of Microsoft OSes already have a Bill trying to do this?
Max.
One of the other nightmare/1984 things going on is persecuting random people via child pornography allagations - some 20,000 cases so far this year, according to a lawyer friend of mine. Essentially what seems to happen is that someone, possibly another police officer, makes an allagtion that a person is viewing or disributing kiddie porn. Then the police raid that poor person, rip through their houses, and seize anything electronic they can get their hands on.
Basically, they then keep the equipment and informally distribute it amongst themselves. Nobody in their right mind is willing to go to court to recover their stuff because they are likely to have their house burned down by enraged neighbours shortly afterwards. I understand that anyone who actually does have pictures of semi-dressed girls over 16 on their machine is prosecuted anyway, on the grounds that they can't prove that the picures are not of under-16s, and this has led to a large number of lives ruined and suicides. Knowing that this kind of thing goes on, and knowing that people who know members of police child protection units often have access to cheap computer, I am now extremely careful not to look at anything that might be construed as pornogrpahic on the Internet. It really isn't worth the risk for me - at least with Slashdot you can idle away time reading and commenting about safe things.
Just great. Easy change of IMEI is not a real issue for companies who produce IC's for cellular phones.
Yeah, it takes too much effort to make IMEI number one time programmable. No even freaky simple fuse integrated in chip, no additional simple circuitry. Nothing.
But look, why bother? Now with help of well_not_aware society and dumb legislators who dont have basic knowlege in technology, we have police forces and courts to help those lousy manufacturers. They are to busy making money to addrees this little issue. How nice!
What next - a bill to disallow modifying your PC ?
Quiet! Don't give them any ideas
All of this "I can't mod the hardware I bought and own" legislation that's been on the rampage these last few months is really really getting old. Very reminicent of the way EULAs are spiralling out of control. The company should have the right to deny offenders service and/or void the warrenty on the specific product, but a law making it illegle to mod the stuff you bought? It's nine-assed. Like the poster said... Say goodbye to modding your computer. or maybe your car... I can understand pushing for a fraudulent use prosecution, like cable boxes, but that's one large step from just modifying the hardware. If it's there is beyond a reasonable doubt that this alteration's only use is in fraud, then'd see no real reason to raise a fuss over the new law. But as it stands...
You need a FREE iPod Nano
I believe the act of fraud is already illegal in nearly every jurisdiction on the planet. I'm unsure what this special case is intended to address. To wit:
If I walk into a bank and use someone else's bank account number to withdraw money, I'm guilty of fraud.
If I order a product over the phone, and use someone else's credit card number, I'm guilty of fraud.
If I place a telephone call, and bill it to someone else's calling card number, I'm guilty of fraud.
If I modify my cellular telephone to use someone else's ESN, I'm guilty of fraud.
Why special laws to prevent me from actually modifying my own property? If I modify my property to misrepresent myself in a financial transaction, I'm guilty of fraud.
My car gets 40 rods to the hogshead, and that's the way I likes it!
what about moding the phone so the IMEI # could never be changed again?
An IMEI is actually very similar. It includes the manufacturer, the intended network types, the place of manufacture, whether it was a development or production model, and an estimated date of manufacture. Very neat, eh?.
i want privacy, just buy a new sim card AND CHANGE MY IMEI.
I don't think it's more likely that he was speeding before he got to the farm. Cops around me have actually tailgated people to get them to speed and then pulled them over before.
Life is too short to proofread.
Lots of other techniques could be used too: for example, I would consider putting together a nice automated system where, when a stolen cell phone was used, the connection was made, but after about 1 minute the call would be dropped, and a new automated call was made to the called number called suggesting that they turn in the previous caller for a reward. Am I missing something here? It would seem that cell phones should not be such an easy target for thieft.
Of course, changing ALL of the stored information, including but not limited to the IMEI number would make my techniques harder, but are a high percentage of the stolen phones really being reprogrammed this way?
I hardly see a law that deals with changing this number to be very useful. Isn't stealing the phone already illegal? Don't they already have laws for fraud and thieft of services? Will the people who violate these laws really care about breaking another? And any suggestion that the person doing the reprogramming doesn't know exactly why the number is being changed would be negated by simply using a blacklist system of stolen phones that always connect to a recording of "this is a stolen phone. Contact the police ....". This would negate that problem far better than a law on a technical matter. The cell industry already has too many special laws just for them on the books, it's time they took action themselves to become part of the solution and not part of the problem.
I'm an American. I love this country and the freedoms that we used to have.
Though I really can't see any legitimate reason to edit the IMEI of any cell phone I think the impact of people doing so will be limited. AFAIK a large number of (european) operators no longer (or never has) search the EIR (equipment identity register) - a central register in Ireland which should prevent phones stolen in one country from being used in another.
Furthermore as cloning IMEIs of legitimate phones is quite common in some countries even operators tha does check the EIR may experience problems:
In one case a danish operator had to give up registering a specific IMEI in the EIR as this would block several hundred cloned phones in Spain.
listen to the little nazi peep - how funny
My point, again: any post as shallow as yours is only going to discredit the position it's pushing, so you must have been either joking or clueless. The most likely party to support legislation like this in the U.S. would be the Republicans, because horrible leftists like the ACLU would undermine Democratic support and the Greens are all about consumer and individual rights. The situation doesn't fit your easy-answers, spectrum-from-left-to-right world view, does it?
Here's as close to ad hominem attack as I need to get: If your ideology fits in a nutshell, that's probably where it belongs.
"Fundamentalism" isn't about divine morality. It's about human authority.
The basic premise that a gov't should operate on is that everything should be legal unless there's a good reason otherwise.
This is a clear case of something that could be solved by technilogical means very simply.
It is possible to burn a serial number into a chip so that it cannot be changed (it can always be changed but I mean that it would require an electron microscope to do so.) This can be done cheaply and easily.
Using a forged number on their network is fraud, already illegal. So they're no good reason to pass a law like this. But they will because they're going to be bought off.
I should be able to change the software inside anything I own. That should be my right. If I change the software inside something that uses public airwaves, like a cellphone, it should have to operate within FCC guidelines (or european in this case), but I should be able to chance anything else in the software I want. FCC guidelines need to be followed so that my right to operate an electronic device does not interfere with anyone else's right to operate theirs. It a fair trade off that keeps people from have transmitter power wars with each other.
A good example of why someone would want to do this is to keep a backup phone. It's not like no-one has ever dropped a cellphone and broken it before, have they? If you had a backup, you could just pull it out and use it, no phone call to make, no fees. I'd like to have a phone in my car and a phone in my pocket that both use the same wireless account.
If a service provider does not want to to use a phone with a changed number, all they have to do is state that in the contract, and by doing so I would be in breach of contact. If I used their network without authoization, it would be theft of services, which is already illegal.
This law is not needed. It is just another case of coporations buying laws that give them control over how we can use devices we already own. (Like the DMCA)
Life is too short to proofread.
The IMEI is the serial number of the phone. You GSM user ID is in the SIM card. You can get copies of those (legally) on some networks too so you can switch phones.
Multiple IMEIs do not really matter for the network operation. That is why you can move your SIM card (and phone number) to a different phone, and have it work.
YHBT. The Pommes Have Lost. HAND.
"And if us Brits weren't moderating your idiot President's foreign policy moves, we'd be that much closer to armageddon. "
BWAHAHAHAHAHA! YOU WISH! That faggot Geroge Michaels is right: Blair is W's bitch and don't you forget it.
According to the Houses of Parliament Web site this Bill received Royal Assent a week ago and is now an Act (and thus law).
Before you know it it'll be illegal for me to rip the tags of my mattresses!
How's my typing? Call 1-800-eta-shut
Take any nokia phone. Type "*3001#12345#". Boom, scroll to serial no., and change it. You can modify most any phone setting from there.
The main problem is that the IMEI numbers are held in re-writeable memory.
There is no reason why this is neccessary - using a PROM or setting it by cutting links on the silicon with a laser would be just as good, but slightly more expensive. This would make it much harder to change the IMEI, and not require any legislation. Those who have stolen mobile phones have already broken the law, so are they likely to listen to another law that is preventing them from selling the goods that they have stolen?
Reprogramming the IMEI is now an offence.
So what? Is it like, a burglar would steal a phone with no remorse and then say, wait! I am not going to reprogram the IMEI, that is so illegal!
Really, I don't see how it helps.
In the USA most people are used to anolog/CDMA/TDMA phones which have a unique identifier used for billing purposes, the ESN. It has been illegal since 1996 to change the esn on any mobile phone because of the fraud possibilities (and companies want you to have 3 different plans not one phone for your car,house,person).
ESN+Their Phone number = their phone.
An IMEI on the other hand is NOT used in billing at all. It is just used to identify the specific phone and sent when the phone goes on the network. Occasionaly, providers actually check the IMEI against a blacklist of stolen or otherwise frauded phones.
The problem with banning IMEI changing is that the same cables that upload ringtones and change graphics can be used to change the IMEI. How much do they cost? $10.
If the law goes through and becomes enforced (not sure how this works, i am no UK expert) this might create a huge legitimate reason to change IMEIs. Providers can simply instead of locking phones, bar all of their competition's phones IMEIs from the network. If you want to use that nice $200 phone on a competitor's network then tough, its illegal now.
As for cutting down thefts this wont do a thing because of the aforementioned $10 cables. This doesnt matter of course since from what I have seen the UK stopped being a free country a long time ago.
Why aren't the phones built up to Capcom standards? The good ol' Street Fighter Zero arcade systems are made with an encrypted rom and the decryption key suffed in a special ram chip. If the system board was tampered with, the key would be zeroed out, and the system would be useless. With a little smart design and a $0.25 battery, the cell phones could ACUTALLY be theft-proofed, mugging would be reduced, and no ineffective laws would be needed.
ESN = Electronic Serial Number
IMEI = The International Mobile Equipment Identifier
VIN = Vehicle Identification Number
Stupid billmakers.
/someone else's/ phone. :)
They should of course make it illegal to change that number on
Illegal or not, there's really no need to change your IMEI anyway (even for criminals) since a good majority of IMEI's are never entered into the system at the time of purchase (at least in north america), and therefore can not be blacklisted if stolen. For more info, do a search for IMEI at howardforums.com -SJC
.. and thus thiefs won't stop changing IMEI codes just because the law requests them to. After all they STOLE the mobile, which is prohibited too.
And it is called MS Law... and is enforced thru the Windows Activation Program...
I must say... the hardware producers must be smiling... with all those sales that they will lose...
Cheers...
Now wouldn't that be a nice first step to enforcing DRM and 'copyright theft protection' hardware mods.
Start by making it illegal to hack your cell phone, then a next logical step would be to make it illegal to modify your PC in any way that could have the effect of circumventing any DRM hardware mods.
IMEI != ESN
GSM handets are twofold: the ME (mobile equipment) and SIM (subscriber identity module). Both together form the MS (mobile station).
This split was done to avoid exactly the situation you describe. A handset may be transferred to another person, without notifying the airtime provider. You take out the SIM (a miniature smart card) and plug it into another handset. Off you go!
The IMEI is often ignored by the network. There exists a database of stolen handsets (in Dublin), but most airtime providers don't interface with that database. In fact, stolen handsets work in more than 50% of all GSM networks (without IMEI change).
I'm usually the first guy to freak out about the government taking liberties in a kind of knee-jerky fashion, and, in that vein, I had a quick look at the bill in question when I first came across it a couple of months ago.
It's really harmless. It does exactly what it says on the tin. The bill itself boils down to about three sentences, wrapped up in enough red tape to justify employing a murder of civil servants for a few days. About the only situation that I can envisage being a problem is if having the equivalent of a dynamically-defined MAC on a wireless network becomes desirable. Of course, those better educated than I should feel free to correct me in that.
Note that I do not specifically agree with this legislation. The place for these measures, if they must be there, is in the technology, not in the legislature.
Reality is the ultimate Rorschach.
I'm not the biggest patriot on my block, and I don't like the direction that America is heading in, but I'm sure glad that we're still (basically) free to live in (almost) any way that doesn't harm others.
patriot [páytree t , páytree òt ] (plural patriots) noun
supporter of own country: somebody who proudly supports or defends his or her country and its way of life
(Emphasis Mine) Encarta Encyclopedia-
Just because you don't support, doesn't mean you are not a patriot. You are being patriotic if you are trying to help your fellow citizens. Sometimes a patriot is a concerned citizen and tries to improve things.
Revolutionary war soldiers were considered patriots, bu they certainly didn't support the king. God speed to you.
You remove the sole identifying factor to your car.. well then, it is no longer your car the moment someone else wants it and calls the cops.
You remove your identification from your wallet? You forfeit the cash inside when someone takes it.
Take off that little mattress tag? Wll, lets just say I have a friend that ain't getting out for a loooong time.
Comment removed based on user account deletion
Governments love to make stupid, pointless and irrelevant laws. It gives them a sense of fulfillment. Even though there are more pressing issues they should be looking at, they always have time for a bit of fun. Surely everyone here understands - how many times have you messed around doing something dumb on company time, even though you had major deadlines to meet? im sure you've all made time to look through the bosses computer for pr0n, play a few rounds of Quake on the network, or build some sort of projectile firing weapon :)
This isn't the whole picture though. As you probably know, most politicians are very social people, they are great when it comes to networking at parties, playing golf, and improving their popularity rating, but when it gets down to it, they really haven't a clue. Most are in it for the bribe money (Hollings), and some of them mean well, but end up resorting to their 8-ball for decision making. Those that actually work hard and take the time to understand what's going on are usually like the quiet kids in the class - they get left out at the next vote. These ones are usually pretty low in numbers.
The average citizen couldn't give a crap about most political issues; all they care is that their post arrives in the morning, and that they still have a job. The issue of whether or not they can control and modify the devices they own in their own home, or not be sued for speaking is not a factor. These are the majority of people.(Thats why America has Bush).
This comment does not represent the views or opinions of the user.
These days, phones sole purposes is not always making calls. A lot of the new 2.5G phones on or coming to the market currently have digital cameras or mp3 players embedded, this makes them desirable even if the criminals cannot make calls on them.
Your phone number and account is attached to the SIM card not the phone/IMEI, or at least that's how it is on all the systems I've seen in the UK. Changing the IMEI number of my phone will have precisely zero effect on where my calls go to, appear to come from or get charged to. If I take the SIM out of my phone it won't connect to a net work at all. If I put my SIM into another phone then I can make and recieve calls from that phone as me.
A very common thing for people to do these days when they upgrade thier phone is to buy a 'Pay-As-You-Go'/Prepay SIM to put into their old phone. They then sell the old phone, give it to their kid/partner or use it as a backup/spare. None of these require changing the IMEI. The only reason for changing the IMEI is to make it impossible for the phone to be identified as stolen.
As well as storing your pohone number and details of the network the SIM also stores other odds and sods (recent calls &c) and can also store your 'phone book', although the phone usually can store more numbers and more details (e.g. I have a Nokia 6210 the SIM can only store names and phone numbers, the phone can store business cards similar to .vcf files).
Stephen
"Don't write down to your readers, the only people less intelligent than you can't read" - Sign on Newspaper Office Wall
Okay... cool. I was thinking along the lines of what you said about the SIM card, but I wasn't sure and didn't want to throw in yet another fact based solely on my memory (I was afraid about half of what I put might be wrong after all). Thank you for verifying that one for me. As for the ESN/IMEI, I just assumed that's how they routed the calls, because when I call up a Service Provider to activate a phone, the only thing they ask about the particular phone is "what's the ESN" then they give me the phone number, I hand it to Joe Customer and they go happily on their way (hopefully not to have their phone stolen as soon as they're out of my sight!). Thanks Stephen!
The fact that scanning police frequencies is illegal where you are, but legal where I am, also demonstrates that these type of laws lead to contraditions in what is increasingly a borderless world.
What if I have just moved to the UK from China, where for some reason (hypothetically), it is considered legal to reprogramme your phone?
As I land in England, have I just broken the law by having a phone that has been rewired?