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Lawmakers Aim to Require Smartphone Kill Switch

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Already done

msteven3

Dec 19, 2013, 12:55 PM
Does this guy not realize that this technology already exists? Apple gives iOS users the ability to find/lock/wipe their devices, and Android Device Manager does the same for Android.

Problem already solved.
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T Bone

Dec 19, 2013, 1:22 PM
The mentality behind this legislation is that government knows best....sure, the technology already exists for those who want it, Apple, Android, Blackberry and Windows Phone can all already do this, and it's optional, and the carriers have no control over it. And the process is reversible if the phone should be recovered. Can't you see how terrible that is? A feature being optional? Carriers having no control? The process being easy to reverse? Clearly this is a situation up with which we cannot put!

Government knows best, even when they are completely ignorant of the technology they are trying to regulate and are not willing to consider the ramifications and possible very harmful side effects of the legislation that they propose, th...
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freek1989

Dec 19, 2013, 1:38 PM
do you now what they mean by kill swicth????
is to turn your phone nothing more that a part replacement tell me wicth one from all phone maker have have that yet.....
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T Bone

Dec 19, 2013, 2:22 PM
I don't know what the California bill requires, because the article doesn't, but I do know what the bill proposed in New York requires, and it's a horrible bill.

The kill switch that is being proposed, at least in the state of New York, is something that would be put in the hands of the carriers 😳, and the carriers would be REQUIRED to immediately pull the kill switch on any phone reported to them to be stolen....the feature would also be non-optional (i,.e it would be mandated to be on every single phone whether people want the feature or not) and it would be impossible to ever use the phone again once the kill switch is pulled. It's called a 'kill switch' precisely because it is permanent and cannot be reversed once it is done. It...
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WiGuy

Dec 19, 2013, 8:27 PM
Could you imagine that once everyone has a phone with the "kill switch" the Government can suddenly "kill" everyones phones all at once and we're left with no way to communicate lol conspiracy lol
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Yama Gama

Dec 19, 2013, 9:18 PM
Yup. Consider that the back-doors required to implement a 'kill switch' probably give the government a lot more room to squeeze into..

And that's how they work, right? They say "this policy will help protect people from child pornographers" and then in actuality, use it to prosecute free software enthusiasts.
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Tofuchong

Dec 20, 2013, 9:48 PM
free software enthusiasts? are you refering to pirates ?
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Yama Gama

Dec 21, 2013, 12:38 PM
No I'm referring to the individuals who actually created the internet and its various protocols, many of whom have been forced to commit suicide by various methods, if you care to inform yourself.

'Piracy' is a slang term referring to British maritime doctrine (the privateer comission), and has no rational basis for its application in the syntax you have provided.
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Tofuchong

Dec 24, 2013, 10:22 PM
Yeah, I know what the word pirate means.

Also, maybe you should be the one who should "inform" yourself that by legal definition, nobody can force you to commit suicide. Sorry - I assumed you were informed, I wont make that mistake next time.
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deanwoof

Dec 20, 2013, 11:04 PM
very great points made

or can you imagine someone that works at your wireless carrier? whether that be a store or call center on their way out as their last day, or having a horrible day? someone calls into them, and as i suspect, starts yelling at them and cussing them out. they say 'screw it' and kill your phone?


on second thought i like the idea ;)
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netboy

Dec 19, 2013, 11:01 PM
Samsung Note3 international version has this Kill Switch!
when you put in a new simcard on the note3, it requries you to enter your Pin to re-activate the phone, otherwise the phone wont let you do anything.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=246 ... »
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kingstu

Dec 20, 2013, 3:11 PM
That sort of lock is not a kill switch. A kill switch makes the phone permanently unusable. There is no way to unlock it once it is killed and that is just a bad idea.
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netboy

Dec 20, 2013, 3:38 PM
that sort of lock is what they talking about, making the phone useless if someone stole it. Only international note3 has this feature. American note3 don't have this feature, carriers must requested Samsung to remove it!
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freek1989

Dec 20, 2013, 5:35 PM
That sort of lock is not a kill switch. A kill switch makes the phone permanently unusable.the one gov is talking about is killing our phone ,dead,gone,done.finito. 😛 😛 😛 😛 😛 😛 😉 😉 😉
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Yama Gama

Dec 21, 2013, 2:52 PM
A kill switch like this one would do the damage to insurance policies (people would be able to lock and track where their phone is, they might not pay such a whackload for a policy).

Bricking a phone doesn't seem to be bad for insurance, because they'll just make it part of the process, a-la "and have you bricked your old device yet?"

More room for profit there, really.

What I'm guessing is that the whole kill-switch thing really is a catering to the insurance industry, which was pushing against track-and-lock being implemented in north america.
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Zpike

Dec 20, 2013, 12:02 AM
Couldn't have said it better myself.
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