DC police chief says carriers profit from phone theft

DC police chief says carriers profit from phone theft, ‘are not innocent’ | VentureBeat: ". . . San Francisco and New York Police have launched special initiatives and teams to curb mobile crime in response to the influx of thefts. But what about carriers? The contention seems to be that carriers should be doing more to identify stolen phones as they enter the underground resale market, often on auction sites like eBay, and are activated by new owners. Carriers have established a national stolen phone database that works by tracking stolen phones’ IMEI numbers, a International Mobile Station Equipment Identity that identifies a mobile device independently of the owner, and can be used to block network access to a device that has been reported stolen. One problem, however, is that full integration is not scheduled to take place until November 2013. Australia, for example, had similar technology in place country-wide a full decade ago, in 2003. In addition, many Verizon and Sprint devices don’t yet have IMEI numbers." Read more at http://venturebeat.com/2013/05/02/dc-police-chief-says-carriers-profit-from-phone-theft-are-not-innocent/#DBbqcygqMc3ailaa.99


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