I find it funny that everyone on the XDA forums say that changing the IMEI is illegal, though they never are able to cite a law stating it is illegal to do so, just a bill. or a thread of people saying its illegal And if you do some digging you find out that it is in fact NOT illegal to change it and that no law has ever been passed pertaining to it. Then when users on here have explained why its illegal all they have said is that is illegal because you could use it to clone the IMEI of another device and essentially clone that device. But the law to stop cell phone fraud only pertains to the ESN and not the IMEI. So could someone please explain why XDA has decided to make it illegal to discuss changing the IMEI just because it *could* be used for malicious reasons, but when many people want to use it for benevolent reasons. Also XDA makes discussion of how to change it, but allows discussions of other illegal topics on their forums?
-This thread was not posted to discuss how to change IMEI, just to get more info-
Changing IMEI is illegal in some countries, there are more than 200 countries in this world
Tyaginator said:
Changing IMEI is illegal in some countries, there are more than 200 countries in this world
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I know that in some countries it is illegal, I meant in the USA, I forgot to mention that in the OP.
The-10th-Doctor said:
I know that in some countries it is illegal, I meant in the USA, I forgot to mention that in the OP.
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Yeah but xda can be accessed from any country in the world
Tyaginator said:
Yeah but xda can be accessed from any country in the world
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I know, but if they ban it for that reason, don't you think hey should also ban other stuff that's illegal in many countries like, I don't know, how to easily crack wifi passwords that use wpa? If there are posts allowed like that on here that give in depth walk through on how to do it, but leave a disclaimer saying "this is only intended to test your own network and to show security flaws" then someone should be able to post something on changing IMEI but leaving a disclaimer saying "This is only intended to show its possible to do so and only for use in countries where legal and changing the IMEI of one device you own to the same one as another device you own and not to use in illegal ways." Because its the same idea and makes no sense to ban the discussion of one of them on the forum, but allow the other to be discussed and have a thread with an in-depth walk through just because it has a disclaimer.
The-10th-Doctor said:
I know, but if they ban it for that reason, don't you think hey should also ban other stuff that's illegal in many countries like, I don't know, how to easily crack wifi passwords that use wpa? If there are posts allowed like that on here that give in depth walk through on how to do it, but leave a disclaimer saying "this is only intended to test your own network and to show security flaws" then someone should be able to post something on changing IMEI but leaving a disclaimer saying "This is only intended to show its possible to do so and only for use in countries where legal and changing the IMEI of one device you own to the same one as another device you own and not to use in illegal ways." Because its the same idea and makes no sense to ban the discussion of one of them on the forum, but allow the other to be discussed and have a thread with an in-depth walk through just because it has a disclaimer.
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Lol, u got a point bro:sly:
Oh, hey look what I found, I thought a post like this was not allowed on here, somehow it has gone un-noticed for 2 years!
Related
Every time this comes up, a mob of uninformed posters jump in and muddy up the discussion with ignorance. I must confess that I am ignorant as well, but I want actual information from people who know, backed up with references to legal text.
I have looked for weeks trying to find if any law exists anywhere in the United States of America that prohibits the alteration of an IMEI on a cell phone. I can find none. Is it, in fact, illegal to do? The reason I ask is that I find it reprehensible that I am required to pay for a data plan I don't need to use a phone that has features I want.
Before you jump into this discussion, BEWARE! If you post a knee-jerk 'It's illegal' reply without supporting documentation, you had better be wearing your asbestos speedo! I will flame you so bad, you'll wish I had not flamed you so bad.
I am looking for an informed discussion with verifiable facts, not opinions.
Change of IMEI is illegal ! And hence not allowed to discuss about at XDA, do not repeat this.
I went to one of those code websites and they quoted $95, which is out of my reach at the moment. Is there perhaps a way to d it myself? I am comfortable rooting and flashing roms so I'm sure I can handle it, I just don't know what to do.
Paying off the phone usually does the trick...
blackhawk said:
Paying off the phone usually does the trick...
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The person I purchased it from told me it was network unlocked. I did not find out it was not unlocked until I inserted my sim into it after it was delivered.
If I had the money to pay it off I would not be here asking if there's a chance this can be done.
{Mod edit}
I have a bit of experience with this given I have a Cricket model and I was going to sell it on eBay. Cricket themselves told me that the DEVICE itself is locked to the purchasers ACCOUNT until 6 months of service has been paid for. After which the network can be unlocked and the device sold to anyone. They told me the device wouldn't function for another Cricket account even if I wanted to just give it away to a friend. I'm not sure a code is really going to solve anything, given it sounds more like an IMEI lock within Cricket's database, and only once prereqs are met will they lift those restrictions.
Take this with a huge grain of salt, of course. Half the time I'm not sure Cricket's support has a clue what they're talking about. All I know is, tons of people are scooping them up for $49.99 from their website as "new customers" and then immediately trying to sell them.
To anyone else wanting to pick up one of these second hand, the safest way is to make sure it's the 6GB 256GB model. These aren't sold at any carrier, and are fully unlocked directly from Motorola. Picked one up myself a few weeks ago for slightly under $200.
Moderator Announcement
Discussions of or support to "bypass" a carrier lock are not accepted on XDA. Please don't bring us into trouble by starting such requests. XDA Forum Rules (excerpts):
9. Don't get us into trouble.
Don't post copyrighted materials or do other things which will obviously lead to legal trouble. If you wouldn't do it on your own homepage, you probably shouldn't do it here either. This does not mean that we agree with everything that the software piracy lobby try to impose on us. It simply means that you cannot break any laws here, since we'll end up dealing with the legal hassle caused by you. Please use common sense: respect the forum, its users and those that write great code.
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Additionally, I cleaned this thread, removed a few posts and edited one as it started to derail. We expect even our newest members to be familiar with the Forum Rules, as they've agreed to adhere to them when they registered i.e. they should actually be from in their minds. This private website might differ from the common social media but XDA places great value on member conduct as expressed in rule no. 2 of the Forum Rules. We don't tolerate personal attacks or post in a demanding, argumentative, disrespectful or self-righteous manner at all. A repetition might lead to other consequences to an account than just a friendly warning.
In conjuction with above, please do not reply to any offensive post at all; please just report a post and leave the rest to the moderators team. Thanks very much.
Regards
Oswald Boelcke
Senior Moderator
Hi,
can anybody tell me which mobiles are the easiest to root and the IMEI number is possible to change after root? I will be in a country for 3-6 months from my internship and to use an imported mobile the tax is almost 325$ on a 500$ mobile. So, I was thinking if I could change the IMEI to some low-cost mobile and use for this time period.
Thanks in advance
MOD ACTION:
Thread closed.
@shahidchuhdry
Changing IMEI for whatever reason is illegal in atleast some countries. XDA being an international forum can not afford to get into legal hassles due to users seeking advice on changing IMEI or other users providing help in that. Hence we have been closing such threads consistently and your thread has been closed for that reason. Please also read Rule 9:
9. Don't get us into trouble.
Don't post copyrighted materials or do other things which will obviously lead to legal trouble. If you wouldn't do it on your own homepage, you probably shouldn't do it here either. This does not mean that we agree with everything that the software piracy lobby try to impose on us. It simply means that you cannot break any laws here, since we'll end up dealing with the legal hassle caused by you. Please use common sense: respect the forum, its users and those that write great code.
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Thank you for your understanding!
Halo everyone, how to change Imei in Nord CE 2 5G? Cuz regulation in my country, my imei is banned and i don't have any signal of any local SIM Card, please help me, many thanks...
devlirian said:
Halo everyone, how to change Imei in Nord CE 2 5G? Cuz regulation in my country, my imei is banned and i don't have any signal of any local SIM Card, please help me, many thanks...
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Why is it banned?
Cuz regulation in my country, must be official phone have a registered, so if you like pixel, OnePlus you must ordered non official in other web
MOD ACTION:
Thread closed.
@devlirian
Changing IMEI is illegal in quite a few countries. Hence XDA, which is used all over the world, doesn't support questions or discussions on this subject. Please check Rule 9:
9. Don't get us into trouble.
Don't post copyrighted materials or do other things which will obviously lead to legal trouble. If you wouldn't do it on your own homepage, you probably shouldn't do it here either. This does not mean that we agree with everything that the software piracy lobby try to impose on us. It simply means that you cannot break any laws here, since we'll end up dealing with the legal hassle caused by you. Please use common sense: respect the forum, its users and those that write great code.
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I bought the OP8T and it's pretty great. But my carrier won't allow OP phones (because they're not common in my country and they actually whitelist device types on their network). They're using the IMEI to look up my make/model so I want to spoof my old Samsung's IMEI on the OP8T. I've used "IMEI Changer" and according to it, my IMEI is spoofed. However, if I go to Settings > About Phone > IMEI, neither of the two slots have been changed, they're still the original IMEI.
Any idea what else I can try? I've been at it for about nine hours today.
Hi @LuthDev,
Sincerely, welcome to XDA. However, discussions or any activity relating to changing or spoofing an IMEI are not allowed on XDA, so I've closed this thread.
This is covered by Rule 9 of XDA Developers Forum Rules because changing or spoofing your IMEI is illegal in a lot of places:
9. Don't get us into trouble.
Don't post copyrighted materials or do other things which will obviously lead to legal trouble. If you wouldn't do it on your own homepage, you probably shouldn't do it here either. This does not mean that we agree with everything that the software piracy lobby try to impose on us. It simply means that you cannot break any laws here, since we'll end up dealing with the legal hassle caused by you. Please use common sense: respect the forum, its users and those that write great code.
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Repairing your IMEI - that is, restoring what your device's original IMEI was, is allowed to be discussed, but when doing so, you would have to make it very clear that you're only interested in fixing your IMEI.
If you have any questions, please send me a PM.
Thank you,
@roirraW "edor" ehT