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This "kill switch" will not stop theft. People will still nick phones and sell them for parts. Pointless legislation. A waste of time and money to push this through.

My thoughts exactly.

California,
Sorry about your liberal infestation.
 
An article like this always brings out the "don't tread on me" types that believe that just about every law is a bad one.

Yawn

Yes... it does... followed by those with an imprint of their ankles permanently embedded in their palms.
 
I am sure it will reduce it - you are talking about a ~$400 profit per device down to around $100/device (Pretty much the screen and battery are the only worthwhile components in the repair market), plus involving more work in selling the device. Given the penalty is the same, then the risk will be too high for most people just trying to make a quick buck.

You are right. I just went to the junkie thief forum on the interwebs and they were discussing how disappointed they were about this legislation. They are totally concerned about the risk to profit ratios being so far out of whack and decided to stop grabbing phones to sell for drugs based off of these laws alone.

;)
Honestly all joking aside I hope you are right. I just lack the faith in the intelligence of people willing to steal my stuff in the first place.
 
Stupid. How about people just act responsibly and not lose their friggin phones? :mad::eek::rolleyes:

Even responsible owners are at risk of having their property stolen.

Now that devices running ios7 are less profitable stolen, crooks are going to have to steal twice as many phones to make their quota
 
With the exception of a couple of large cities in the US, iPhone theft is a crime of opportunity. The thief doesn't leave the house thinking he will steal a phone but at the bar or at lunch you put your phone in front of you, turn away for a second and it is gone. Those thefts aren't by gangs or druggies (unless that is who you hang with).

A lock, kill switch will over time slow this drastically.
 
How about a kill switch for Telemarketers who spoof their numbers, call constantly, call a number that's listed on the FCC's "Do NOT Call list?

Really simple button: Add to Blacklist...

...and automatically report the caller to FCC with:

  • Telephone Number Called
  • Timestamp
  • Telephone Number that called (anti-spoofed)

Currently, ... you have to do this manually with the clunky FCC DoNotCall.gov website.

Currently, there is a SASS -- http://www.trapcall.com/ -- that de-masks "Caller Unknown" to "312-555-1234" since Apple will not allow for a Blacklisting app. Far too many telemarketers have started spoofing numbers to cut-down on people accurately reporting their annoying calls.

[This post has been marked as spam]
 
Well, after reading the article I'm disappointed.

I was hoping that I'd be able press a big red button and actually kill the person that holding my phone at that particular moment.

Sigh. Maybe someday...
 
This "kill switch" will not stop theft. People will still nick phones and sell them for parts. Pointless legislation. A waste of time and money to push this through.

The death penalty does not stop murder, so that law should get canned too ?

The real reason why the industry is against it, it will impact on sales of new phones. Fewer stolen phones means fewer replacements needed. This is particularly true of high end phones.
 
The death penalty does not stop murder, so that law should get canned too ?

The real reason why the industry is against it, it will impact on sales of new phones. Fewer stolen phones means fewer replacements needed. This is particularly true of high end phones.

:apple:'s and oranges my friend.

Pretty sure that grand theft is already a crime so in this case there is already a penalty for the theft of a mobile device. A kill switch on a phone won't increase the penalty for stealing the phone nor stop a determined thief that doesn't know anything about the kill switch legislation. It won't track down the thief so you can get your phone back. You will still have to buy a new device.

Should it be mandatory for a kill switch to be on every automobile sold? Cars are stolen all the time right? Will it stop a car from being parted out even if a kill switch was in place?
 
The death penalty does not stop murder, so that law should get canned too ?

The real reason why the industry is against it, it will impact on sales of new phones. Fewer stolen phones means fewer replacements needed. This is particularly true of high end phones.

Yes, I would say so. But I'll leave that to another forum.

I have no idea what "the industry" is against or if they are just ignoring the problem because it isn't currently considered there's. However, I find a more likely reason having to do with contracts already set up with 3rd patty companies who sell warranty-style replacement plans. I find it baffling how much it costs to replace a phone using these services...
 
Well, after reading the article I'm disappointed.

I was hoping that I'd be able press a big red button and actually kill the person that holding my phone at that particular moment.

Sigh. Maybe someday...

I can back legislation that implements this. It's kind of like in the original Robocop where the person who tries to steal a car is electrocuted in the drivers seat. "I'll buy that for a dollar!"
 
I'm surprised the legislation doesn't mandate the phone notify the government every time I purchase a 20 ounce soda.
 
false report problem?

What's to prevent false theft reports, perhaps using stolen identity data? Phone bill stolen out of grandma's mailbox, etc. Brick random peoples expensive phones for fun.

Will a trip back to the AT&T/Verizon/Apple store allow grandma to get her phone fixed?
 
I'm surprised the legislation doesn't mandate the phone notify the government every time I purchase a 20 ounce soda.

Just have the clerk put it in a brown paper bag before they sell it to you... Besides, you should already have your camera and mic covered with a piece of non sequitur anyways...

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What's to prevent false theft reports, perhaps using stolen identity data? Phone bill stolen out of grandma's mailbox, etc. Brick random peoples expensive phones for fun.

Will a trip back to the AT&T/Verizon/Apple store allow grandma to get her phone fixed?

Considering the amount of effort required to do all that, high chance for error, little benefit, and ease of recovery (verify with iCloud), I would say "a lot".
 
How about enforcing the laws that make stealing stuff illegal?

Making laws is to look good...nothing glamorous about enforcement...
 
I don't want the feds making any decision about what to do with the phone I bought with my money.

If I want that feature, I should be able to buy it. Don't shove that mandate down my throat.
 
I don't want the feds making any decision about what to do with the phone I bought with my money.

If I want that feature, I should be able to buy it. Don't shove that mandate down my throat.

They actually probably wouldn't do anything with the phone that you bought with your own money since it would likely be difficult to implement this with anything but sale of new phones.

You should know that there's hundreds of mandates already on your phone, many of which I doubt you were aware of when you bought it.
 
I'm surprised the legislation doesn't mandate the phone notify the government every time I purchase a 20 ounce soda.
That'll be in v2.0.

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That's fine, as long as the owner of the device is the only one killing anything.
Ha! If the government is mandating it, it's because *THEY* want to have the ability to kill anyone's phone at will. Anyone who thinks that the government passes laws for any reason other than their own personal benefit is naive.
 
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