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Stolen Cellphone Databases Switched On In US
alphadogg writes "U.S. cellphone carriers took a major step on Wednesday toward curbing the rising number of smartphone thefts with the introduction of databases that will block stolen phones from being used on domestic networks. The initiative got its start earlier this year when the FCC and police chiefs from major cities asked the cellular carriers for assistance in battling the surging number of smartphone thefts. In New York, more than 40 percent of all robberies involve cellphones and in Washington, D.C., cellphone thefts accounted for 38 percent of all robberies in 2011."
Welcome to the 21st Century.
The EU has had this for over a decade.
The cellphone is less of the cost than the service.
Because they can sell the phone at just below "off contract" prices. Remember, the cost of cell phones if you purchase them outright is about 2-3x what it is if you buy them on contract. If you are on contract and lose your phone, the replacement is full price. Or, people can buy these phones and use them on non-contract networks that tend to be cheaper since they usually don't offer phone discounts.
There is no "I disagree" mod for a reason. Flamebait, Troll, and Overrated are not substitutes.
Carriers decide to start using the exact same technology to block users from re-selling used phones.
Even more to the point, are the phones stolen in robberies and other human-confrontations taken because they want the phone, or are they taken so that the victim can't call the authorities instantly?
I'd expect that cell phones stolen face-to-face would fall into the latter more than the former.
Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
And not, say, keep them working and use the traces to eventually find the folks who have them? That would seem much more sensible.
Ezekiel 23:20
What I don't understand is why that much crime is going uninvestigated. Why aren't there dedicated law enforcement units working in major metropolitan areas to recover these phones? In most jurisdictions, they are valuable enough to qualify the theft as grand larceny. What's more, each cell phone has a built-in tracking device accurate to within a few meters, and have microphones and cameras built in! These aren't exactly difficult crimes to solve.
#fuckbeta #iamslashdot #dicemustdie
I think the point is more to prevent the phone from being resold on craigslist and the like. I don't think they care how it got stolen. Last time an article came up on slashdot about it, only the account owner could list the phone as stolen, and only the account owner could unlist it.
What are we going to do tonight Brain?
In Sweden you need to report the phone stolen to the police before blacklisting it. Works like a charm. No problems what so ever.
The new database blocks the IMEI number, a unique identification number in the cellphone akin to a VIN (vehicle identification number) in a car. The ID number remains with the cellphone no matter what SIM card is used.
10% of IMEI numbers are not unique according to British Telecom. That being said in the UK at least, if your phone gets blocked by accident, there is a procedure to get it unblocked - so all is not lost for you.
Oh, I know about the resale angle. I was just curious as to how often stolen phones ended up being put into use. I agree with the system blocking the use of reported stolen phones.
Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
you can never be sure that the used phone you bought today wasn't stolen yesterday and is on the row to be blocked.
Well this has a simple enough protocol. Ask for the IMEI, meet ya second thing tomorrow to make the trade, first thing tomorrow type in the IMEI and see if its stolen, if it is, don't meet.
"Science flies us to the moon. Religion flies us into buildings." - Victor Stenger
I sold an iPhone 3s for $175 on eBay, just after the 4s came out. I was due for an upgrade, so I sold my old phone.
I would get the same $$ if I stole yours and sold it. The cost of the service is irrelevant the the thief, as long as he can get good money for a stolen phone.
What do they care? They'd rather you bring in your old phone than buy a new one, because they subsidize the cost of the new phone. A carrier's favorite customer is the one who's still using his original iPhone 1. Still paying for a data plan, using relatively small amounts of data, and they paid off the subsidy a long time ago.
The US didn't start using this blacklist until a few months ago.
I'm not sure why TFA says "Wednesday" - over on XDA, people with corrupt IMEIs started complaining 2-3 months ago.
(On Samsung devices, if the EFS partition gets corrupted, it'll be regenerated with a "test IMEI", which all European carriers block but US carriers allowed until recently. The test IMEI is blacklisted. Some shady characters were intentionally corrupting TO the test IMEI to prevent AT&T from detecting their device as a smartphone and all started whining when their hack caused their device to be 100% blocked as stolen.)
retrorocket.o not found, launch anyway?
Both android and iphone have the ability to be "rendered useless" by the OS maker. let me be able to set a "stolen flag" that locks the phone in a states that says "STOLEN PROPERTY CALL 1-800-XXX-XXXX to report and return" that cant be easily bypassed. I.E. restoring the iphone will not disable it, etc... this will make the street value of any stolen smartphone $0.00 instantly. THAT will fix the problem and apple could put that in place with a trivial amount of coding as they already have "find my iphone" as a part of the OS. Android on the other hand will take some work as it lacks that feature.
The phone OS makers refuse to put a simple system like this in place because stolen phones make them money.
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
And how do you get your phone OFF the list if someone adds it maliciously or accidentally (types a 2 instead of a 3 when entering the identifier for a phone that's been stolen, for example?) Who do you need to contact (from a different phone or in person, naturally) and what proof do you need to give that you are the owner of the phone?
Carriers want you to sign a new two-year contract. They also aren't entirely thrilled that you can get an inexpensive second-hand phone and activate it on a prepaid plan. T-Mobile already does block a phone's IMEI if the the original owner abandoned their account with an unpaid balance (a matter that should be left to collection agencies, not handled by blacklisting a phone). Worse, T-Mobile is known to block a phone after it's already been sold and is in use by a new owner who had no way of knowing the previous owner didn't make good on their final bill. There's a whole thread about this on HowardForums.
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DRM is like antifreeze, to the MPAA/RIAA it's sweet, to the consumers it's poison.
You are obviously unfamiliar with the American mobile market. Other than T-Mobile, none of the majors offer a discount on monthly service if you bring your own phone. Taking the subsidized handset is the logical choice.