They can blacklist the IMEI, but then the thieves just have to plug it in and change the IMEI. And no Mr. Schumer, the thieves don't give a hoot if it is "illegal" to change the IMEI on a phone they stole.
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The only real way to get this done is with a constantly changing authentication key. Like a subdermal biometric implant that transmits data to / from the phone that would be required for each and every use of the device. Other methods will fail, unless they did the whole "This device will self destruct" method...
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Something like that sword in the Blade movies? With the little blades springing out of the sides of the handle and chopping off your fingers if you don't enter the right code fast enough?
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Except, they don't chop off your fingers.
If you don't enter the correct key quick enough, the phone auto-bricks.
Now, if you are the actual user, thats not a problem at all, becuase your subdermal implant, which as we know, subdermal meaning under your skin, is ALWAYS with you, and ALWAYS ready to provide the correct authentication key.
This is a perfect solution.
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The average phone thief does not know how to do this. In fact, the average phone thief probably isn't educated beyond high school.
They're trying to curb petty criminals - not go again some mega-phone syndicate that cracks phones by the thousands.
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I guess so, but wouldn't those people be crippled just by using screen locks?
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Not really I could do a factory reset if I go into recovery mode on my HTC One X while I am booting so a lock screen won't stop that.
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I don't quite follow the logic.
The laws against theft - or murder, for that matter - don't "stop" anyone from committing those crimes if they're intent on doing so. Should we get rid of those laws?
That's not the point. The point is to give law enforcement and prosecutors the tools they needs to take action when bad guys are caught. It's also hoped that the law might discourage some phone theft. But "stop"? No, no one is saying that.
There are a lot of bad laws. Laws and regulations against jailbreaking and unlocking your phone, I question. But this one is - at worst - benign. No one has a legitimate reason to change their IMEI.
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Law enforcement already has "the tools they need to take action" because stealing stuff is already illegal.
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Have you ever sat on a jury for serious trial? I have. What you suspect and what you can prove in court are often two very different things.
I can easily imagine a situation where the prosecutor can't prove beyond a reasonable doubt that person X stole Y phones, but the prosecutor can convince a jury that the perp changed the IMEIs. That's why laws like this matter.
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Yeah, that is a good point. At least in the case of non-carrier phones which don't have a record with the carriers of who the original IMEI belongs to.
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