Slashdot Mirror
India Hanging Up On 25 Million Cell Phones
jvillain writes "India is about to pull the plug on 25 million cell phones in the name of fighting terrorism and fraud. 'The ban by India's Department of Telecommunications has been unfolding gradually since Oct. 6, 2008, six weeks before the attacks in Mumbai killed 173 people and wounded 308. A memo then directed service providers to cut off cellphone users whose devices didn't have a real IMEI — or unique identity number — in the interests of 'national security.' Since then, the move has picked up steam as a way to circumvent terrorists using black market, unregistered cellphones. The Mumbai attackers kept in touch with each other via cellphones and used GPS to pinpoint their attacks, which started Nov. 26, 2008, and went on for three days. The telecommunications department has issued warnings and deadlines through 2009 but has announced this one is for real, telling operators to block cellphones without valid IMEI numbers. Previously, it warned companies to stop importing them and customers to stop buying them.'"
So, does this just mean that if you want to have an untrackable phone in India, instead of buying a phone without a plan you can just go out and buy a cloned phone instead? I mean, seems to me the only thing better than not being tracked by the government for a criminal/terrorist is to have the government waste time tracking some poor innocent schlub they think is you.
The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for it to be pitted against a slightly greater evil
This happened in Pakistan, where a Chinese manufacturer used the same IMEI number on thousands of cell phones of a particularly cheap model (The model was cloned from a Nokia phone and cloned its IMEI # as well). One day in July 2008, one customer had his cellphone stolen and reported it to Pakistan Telcom Authority, who promptly banned that device using its IMEI number. Result: Mayhem for other owners who owned the same model of phone, as they were all banned at the same time. There were unhappy customers storming dozens of mobile phone stores and sales of Chinese-made phones came to a complete stop for a few days. An archive of the mayhem that ensued is still saved here: http://www.asiamedia.ucla.edu/article-southasia.asp?parentid=94421