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Originally posted by Maluhia
The sad thing is wireless companies could put a stop to this but they won't - why? Profits!
Washington, D.C., police chief Cathy Lanier sees it every day: “It’s a huge business, huge business. The after-market resale of these phones ... the profit that they're making is just driving this whole problem.”
And, she said, the wireless industry is putting its own profit over your safety, allowing stolen phones to be reactivated later with a different phone number. Yes, that’s right: In most cases, black market buyers or the thieves themselves can still buy service on that stolen phone.
The relatively easy fix -
Every cell phone has its own unique ID, or fingerprint. Once the phone is reported stolen, it would be blacklisted in the U.S. Wireless companies from Verizon to AT&T, T-Mobile to Sprint, would all share information, banning service on that stolen phone on all carriers forever.
today.msnbc.msn.com... 5zC1PUsGqUedit on 28-4-2012 by Maluhia because: (no reason given)
Originally posted by AwakeinNM
This is what happens when you ban guns in NYC. The guy had no way to defend himself against these vermin.
However, for a small security fee paid by the month to the phone companies, if your phone is lost or stolen you can have it locked and there is no way to unlock it to even wipe it clean. It is literally just locked.
Originally posted by DestroyDestroyDestroy
Violence, theft in particular, is linked to poverty. Instead of eliminating guns or telling everyone to strap up for the sake of "self defense," why don't we work to reduce poverty?
Oh right, because that would be socialism; god forbid we do anything to try and improve our community.