So I've got a discussion thats bugged me for ages. I've always wondered about bad IMEI's/ESN's. Phones that cannot be used because they are reported stolen
It has a great purpose, It's like if someone stole your car, the car nolonger can start(bad analogy, don't laugh). But it leaves me with something that really really bugs me
Now what happens to people who legitimately buy devices second hand from original owners and such and then the original owner decides to be a you know what and blacklist the device? Or worse, what happens then to all of these devices in their after life? We now have a pile of useless phones that there seems to be no procedure to ever unblacklist these devices... thats the part that sickens me. We literally are rendering useless perfectly good phones that have the ability to be reused, be it the device is sent to the manufacturer first for refurbishing, the original owner gets the device back into their possession. I just feel there so many phones out there that are rendered useless when they are really expensive pieces of equipment... I Know there's always "changing the IMEI" but we aren't going the illegal route here.
Anyone else have feedback, Idk why it just gives me this feeling of being very wasteful.
XDA simply doesn't want to dabble in any "grey" areas. There may be legitimate/legal reasons for changing an IMEI. Most (or at least many) cases, the reasons aren't legitimate or legal. So, to avoid any confusion (or liability), discussion is prohibited. Similarly, certain "patcher" apps. Lots of legitimate uses, like back-ups/restores, root app removal, etc. But also lots of illegitimate uses. So XDA takes the blanket stance of not discussing such apps. It saves them from any hassle of legal/ethical issues, and alleviates the moderating staff from sorting out the fraction of legitimate questions from the dubious questions, lies, damned lies, and flat-out admissions of nefariousness.
If you buy a phone without doing your research into its IMEI or its unlock status, then I think it's your own damn fault for getting burned. Just my opinion. If you're asking about changing IMEI, then either you screwed up in that regard, or you've knowingly purchased a phone with a bad IMEI (buying a "parts" phone off eBay or craigslist), or are the cause of it having a bad IMEI itself (failing to fulfill a contract agreement). Regardless of the reason, even if it's innocently/ignorantly getting burned by an unscrupulous seller, such discussion is barred from XDA because of those other concerns.
My exact question is at the end more than anything, I see this being wasteful of phones? If a device is blacklisted for being "stolen" but is later found by the original owner? Then what? Still a dead device? I just think there's hundreds of good phones out there that could still be used even if they are found or returned or by who knows what means end up on the service providers desk cause someone found it and sent it to the police or something and it's reunited with it's owner...
You get where I'm going with this?
I SPECIFICALLY STATED CHANING IMEI's, HOW-TO's, and such are NOT to be discussed here. I even said this was a discussion, not a Help me thread... Sorry I feel just like you didn't read my op :/
to make it more basic, I think the current system is super inefficent and wasteful and there must be better solutions out there or some future legal way to deal with unblacklisting phones(i.e. original owner finds phone, goes to carrier, proves their identity with an ID and clearly the carrier can look up the account and devices)
Related
i was thinking of telling sprint that i lost my phone so that i can get a new one to use for work but while still keeping mine to use as a toy.Would they be able to simply track my phone and get me for fraud?
Thats not a appropriate question on XDA as its illegal to do fraud! No they wont be able to track your phone!
mohamedhussain1995 said:
Thats not a appropriate question on XDA as its illegal to do fraud! No they wont be able to track your phone!
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Why would they give you a new phone, just because you lost yours ?
Your sim card does however, register on the network when ever you connect (ismi # ) as does your imei #. So you would never be able to use either on a network again. Also if they even suspect fraud, they can charge your account the full amount of the phone , several hundreds of dollars, and suspend your service. And until you settle the bill with Sprint, you will be denied service on any other carrier, because the bill with Sprint will go on your credit report.
That is of course unless you spend several thousands of dollars in legal fees fighting a billion dollar company trying to prove that you didn't do something, that you , in fact, did do.
ummm.. i presume he is under warranty; like me. in the UK if i lose my phone it gets replaced by the same model if it aint found within 12 hours and the stolen phone gets black listed but if you read carefully he mentioned 'as a toy'
Please make sense.
While I respect the "interest" anyone might have to avoid costs, one should not do so "at any cost", particularly at the cost of one's integrity. I have a rule I created for just such a postulation "do not spend your life looking for short-cuts and later standing around complaining when life short-changes you." (Brooks II, Leonard W., The Art of Being ©2007) Notwithstanding this user's inquiry being wrong on all sorts of levels, including legal, it is sufficient that this user ask himself or herself whether this is the "right" thing to do. I think the "gut" won't lie in this case and properly guide his or her actions. Then, there's the old rule I teach my children: "Just because you 'can' do something, does not mean that you 'should'".
To those that weighed in on this question in a manner of response:
I strongly discourage the statement of legal conclusions or speculations regarding punishments as a matter of law. It is contradictory and sends mixed messages to all the users when such speculations are thrown about while also coupled with an answer to the querying user's question. (e.g. This is an inappropriate forum for your question on how to rob a bank because bank robbery is illegal and you could go to jail, p.s. rob an ATM instead because if you get caught you'll do less jail time).
In these forums, it is sufficient to state (preferably citing to an internal xda-developers rule), that "this question is not appropriate to the forum." Alternatively, if xda were to lack such an internal policy rule (I seem to recall it does not lack such a rule) one could simply state the same and re-direct the inquiring user to his or her wireless contract which also provides clear guidance on this point (and yes, I read them (line for line)).
Nevertheless, I also don't think it is good form to make them feel completely like a heel for having asked the question in the first instance. After all, whether it is technology, law, relationships, or our own life experience, most of us know "just enough to make us dangerous".
I'm currently running an HTC touch pro 2 and i still have my HTC touch pro. I turned my TP1 on the other day for the first time in many months and the phone picked up a text message, not only did it pick it up, it picked it up at the same time my TP2 did. Unfortunately it hasn't happened since.
What i'd like to know, is there a way i can emulate the IMIE number on the tp2, so that i can have both my TP2 and my TP1 working at the same time.
I want to be able to use my TP1 as a full data device while i make my calls on my TP2 or vice versa.
If you can't post the answer here for what ever reason feel free to private message me.
*edit it will recieve every txt message that is sent to my number but it won't send and it won't take incoming calls.
Good luck with that, cause that aint gonna happen. Well, at least not anyway that I can possibly think of. Carriers wont allow more than one phone per mobile number. They say it isn't possible, but I personally think it IS possible and that they just wont allow it. Technically, it should be able to work. But the problems would fall with the GPS. Even if GPS was on in one device while off on the other, they couldn't track someone if they wanted to. I'm sure there are other reasons to this. I have never heard of what you are experiencing. They probabbly didn't fully remove the old phone's IMIE data from the system, hence why you can receive texts but not send anything. What service are you on?
THE-COPS said:
Good luck with that, cause that aint gonna happen. Well, at least not anyway that I can possibly think of. Carriers wont allow more than one phone per mobile number. They say it isn't possible, but I personally think it IS possible and that they just wont allow it. Technically, it should be able to work. But the problems would fall with the GPS. Even if GPS was on in one device while off on the other, they couldn't track someone if they wanted to. I'm sure there are other reasons to this. I have never heard of what you are experiencing. They probabbly didn't fully remove the old phone's IMIE data from the system, hence why you can receive texts but not send anything. What service are you on?
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1) unfortunately telus.
2) The GPS on my phones has been completely deactivated except for when I want to turn it on. I refuse to allow someone to turn it on remotely, also in Canada that's akin to wireless phone tapping so the cops can't do it. And even if they could legally i'd still reprogram my phone so they can't.
3) That's my point. If they didn't fully remove it and my old phone can still get the txt messages that means they can re-add the old MEIE numbers back to the system and both should work. OR if i could put an emulator onto my phone or even hard code the MEIE number change on my old phone to the same as my new one...
Remember back in the day when cellphones were still a new thing, the brick and bag phones and so on, well someone figured out how to clone phones and the practice caught on like wildfire and since then has been literally outlawed. AS IN IT IS ILLEGAL TO CLONE ONE OR MORE PHONES TO THE SAME IMEI, MSID, DEC OR HEX SERIAL TO GAIN USE OF MULTIPLE PHONES ON THE SAME LINE AT THE SAME TIME. Not being mean or an ass to you, but I would research this a little bit and tread lightly on the subject. Stuff like this is not tolerated very well on xda.
Plus, now it would be almost impossible to do this with any carrier as the data the phone sends out is not just what you want it to. Whenever it connects to the network is sends and receives configuration data such as manufacturer and model among other things and will throw red flags if it doesnt match up to what the expected result of the data sent and received to the network and carrier has on file.
Again, tread lightly on this path.
"AS IN IT IS ILLEGAL TO CLONE" I'm serious, I'd like to see an actual Canadian law stating this. And if it's not illegal in Canada then it's a legit question. Well it's still legit.
"not tolerated very well on xda." Why? the whole point of these forums is to learn and teach people how to modify their phones. If they didn't want people sharing this information they should never have started this website to begin with.
As to my actual question and as to one stated answer
"They probably didn't fully remove the old phone's IMIE data from the system"
If it's still partially in the system that means it could be wholly in the system and means it should be able to be done. If they say it can't but i'm still getting txts on both phones that means the carriers are lying and are just making excuses to get more money. If thats all it is i'll do my best to get every penny out of them for every penny they're stealing from me.
Ok rant done, how do I clone my IMIE number? (no i won't tread lightly)
slight22 said:
"AS IN IT IS ILLEGAL TO CLONE" I'm serious, I'd like to see an actual Canadian law stating this. And if it's not illegal in Canada then it's a legit question. Well it's still legit.
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its considered fraud under the law in most counties, like changing the VIN on a car, even if there isnt a specific law to deal with it
and besides that, its against the rules of this forum, so even if it was legal to do its not ok to ask about here
defaultdotxbe said:
its considered fraud under the law in most counties, like changing the VIN on a car, even if there isnt a specific law to deal with it
and besides that, its against the rules of this forum, so even if it was legal to do its not ok to ask about here
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Your making a mountain out of a mole hill and there is a very real difference between a 6 or 8 hundred dollar phone and 15 thousand dollar plus car; unless you own both then i see no issue switching out the vin, as long as you own the cars.
as to being the against forum policy i challenge that on the simple fact there is nothing wrong with sharing knowledge.
slight22 said:
Your making a mountain out of a mole hill and there is a very real difference between a 6 or 8 hundred dollar phone and 15 thousand dollar plus car; unless you own both then i see no issue switching out the vin, as long as you own the cars.
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lawmakers disagree
as to being the against forum policy i challenge that on the simple fact there is nothing wrong with sharing knowledge.
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forum admins disagree
"lawmakers disagree"
I can't trace out anywhere where they say cloning your phones IMIE is illegal in Canada, and i also just got of the phone with HTC and they said they don't know of any laws saying it is.
As to the forum admins, they are allowed to disagree, but i'll be they want to know just as much as I do.
Another thread (closed) on this site which discusses ESN cloning: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=380172
Just search on google, and you will find what you need. There are programs like cdma workshop out there.
So you've bricked your captivate..../Stories to tell AT&T so you can get it replaced!
I recently bricked my captivate. It turned into a brick. Nothing happened at all. So i called samsung when ATT wouldnt replace it, and i told them it would shut off every once in a while and then one day it wouldnt turn on again. they gave me a new one!!!
so here i am, starting an AT&T/Samsung Support story thread. Tell us what you told them, and the results!
Or instead of a story realize you just perpetrated fraud and edging on theft since you lied about what happened to your phone instead of taking responsibility foe breaking it. If you're going to change the inner workings of your phone you shouldn't lie to get it replaced, but instead accept the risks and the cost if something goes wrong.
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App
cropythy said:
Or instead of a story realize you just perpetrated fraud and edging on theft since you lied about what happened to your phone instead of taking responsibility foe breaking it. If you're going to change the inner workings of your phone you shouldn't lie to get it replaced, but instead accept the risks and the cost if something goes wrong.
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App
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Wow somebody sounds bitter. If AT&T didn't place so many restrictions on the phone then maybe we wouldn't have to modify the "inner workings" in the first place. True it might not be honest, but neither is charging 10c for a text message
10c for a text message isn't honest but that doesn't mean lying about what you did to your phone should be condoned.
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App
First off, I don't think anybody has managed to actually brick one of these phones - even the ones who have deliberately tried to do so.
Secondly, if you can't live with the restrictions AT&T has put on the phone, you have 30 days to return it. If you want to hack or modify your phone go ahead - but be prepared to accept the consquences for your actions.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App
you could always one click odin3 restore and be fine!
This is hands down, 100% wrong. YOU were playing around with your phone. YOU knew the risks and you decided to flash/update/whatever your device and ended up with a partial brick. (to my knowledge there has not been a fully bricked captivate yet)
It is YOUR responsibility to replace the phone if YOU damage it in any way. NOT At&t.
It always irks me when people manipulate retailers/manufacturers to get things replaced 'under warranty' when in fact, the warranty has been voided.
Not a good idea to make up a story
Its not like they cannot find out that you were the culprit who bricked it when the phone gets back to QA. And believe me...they WILL find out. Once they find out and if they decide to care you are technically liable for the full price of the phone in addition to what they deem are damages
Additionally it will just lead to more efforts by AT&T to keep modders out, hurting us all at xda in the process.
wuxingwarrior3 said:
Wow somebody sounds bitter. If AT&T didn't place so many restrictions on the phone then maybe we wouldn't have to modify the "inner workings" in the first place. True it might not be honest, but neither is charging 10c for a text message
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So being dishonest makes it all right?
Guess what? No one tricked anyone into buying a phone. AT&T does not change terms and conditions without giving you cause to cancel your contract. If you don't like the price of text messages, then don't text; or go with a cheaper carrier.
If you don't like the restrictions don't buy the phone.
And you probably justify downloading music, apps, and movies because they cost to much or not good enough quality?
what does it mean to breake?
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App
I agree with the above posters.
When I bought this phone, I knew I was going to root it, ROM it, edit the files and such. I knew at the same time that doing so would void my warranty and make me liable for any damage I did to the phone. Understanding that made me more careful about what I put on my phone, and made me research the HELL out of any changes I made before I made them, and how to fix them if something went wrong.
Also, it's, so far, IMPOSSIBLE to completely brick a captivate, since you can just use Odin3 to reinstall software. I would think the only way to brick one would be hardware damage from taking it apart, or smashing it with a hammer or something crazy like that.
Just go to this thread, download the firmware, Odin3 and the pitfile and reinstall your phone's OS.
http: // forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=731989
Holy crap I didn't think so many people would be morally distressed by Hazard96's actions. The guy faked a story to get a new phone, big deal. Its not like he killed someone. I know what he did was wrong, I'm not arguing that. I merely stated that dishonesty is not a quality possessed by one individual, and that if a company is going to engage in dishonest practices well... things have a way of balancing themselves out. Corporate greed is incredibly pervasive in today's society. I'm sure AT&T and Samsung aren't angels either. Now that being said, I do not condone what Mr. Hazard did nor would I do what he did. Here's a little anecdote: I bought a 1st gen iPhone when they first came out, unlocked it and later found out it had hardware issues. I could have easily brought it to an apple store and have them replace it but I voided my warranty by unlocking it and cut my losses by selling an unlocked defective phone. Before we start making assumptions about people lets analyze the situation and not get our panties in a bunch over something that is, in the grand scheme of things, inconsequential.
wuxingwarrior3 said:
Holy crap I didn't think so many people would be morally distressed by Hazard96's actions. The guy faked a story to get a new phone, big deal. Its not like he killed someone. I know what he did was wrong, I'm not arguing that. I merely stated that dishonesty is not a quality possessed by one individual, and that if a company is going to engage in dishonest practices well... things have a way of balancing themselves out. Corporate greed is incredibly pervasive in today's society. I'm sure AT&T and Samsung aren't angels either. Now that being said, I do not condone what Mr. Hazard did nor would I do what he did. Here's a little anecdote: I bought a 1st gen iPhone when they first came out, unlocked it and later found out it had hardware issues. I could have easily brought it to an apple store and have them replace it but I voided my warranty by unlocking it and cut my losses by selling an unlocked defective phone. Before we start making assumptions about people lets analyze the situation and not get our panties in a bunch over something that is, in the grand scheme of things, inconsequential.
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What are the dishonest practices that are perpetrated by these companies that would permit someone to lie in return? (assuming one wrong justifies another)
I don't have a problem with someone taking a bricked phone and saying it doesn't work - all these devices should have a way to recover - like Odin allows and like the iPhone allows - recovery mode then reflash to stock. You could have reflashed your firmware to stock and return it to the apple - nothing dishonest about that.
What I do have a problem with is the idea that lying to the company is justified - this concept that "They were dishonest with me, so i can lie to them". I want some justification for that - where is the corporate deceit?
No one made me any promises when i bought my phone - I had 30 days to return it if it didn't work the way i wanted it too. The rate plans are spelled out pretty clearly, as are roaming and data.
They may not be priced fair in my mind, but I see nothing dishonest. I just want examples of dishonesty - not examples of a store manager saying something, examples of the corporation being dishonest.
I'm sorry, but in my world, if I install linux on a brand new dell or HP computer, and the screen shorts, my warranty doesn't become void. I can't receive software technical support because I am not running the software the sold me, but if the hardware is defective, software has ZERO to do with it. So the limitations that AT&T place on cell phones that if you flash a new ROM it's warranty is void is ridiculous, and downright fraudulent.
alphadog00 said:
What are the dishonest practices that are perpetrated by these companies that would permit someone to lie in return? (assuming one wrong justifies another)
I don't have a problem with someone taking a bricked phone and saying it doesn't work - all these devices should have a way to recover - like Odin allows and like the iPhone allows - recovery mode then reflash to stock. You could have reflashed your firmware to stock and return it to the apple - nothing dishonest about that.
What I do have a problem with is the idea that lying to the company is justified - this concept that "They were dishonest with me, so i can lie to them". I want some justification for that - where is the corporate deceit?
No one made me any promises when i bought my phone - I had 30 days to return it if it didn't work the way i wanted it too. The rate plans are spelled out pretty clearly, as are roaming and data.
They may not be priced fair in my mind, but I see nothing dishonest. I just want examples of dishonesty - not examples of a store manager saying something, examples of the corporation being dishonest.
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(I'm agreeing with quoted poster)
It's also an issue of trust. If people keep returning phones that were bricked due to rooting or flashing improperly, then eventually the phone companies will work to put some kind of lockdown on that type of thing. Hard to to? probably, but the latest fiasco with Efuse and such on the Droid X showed us that it's POSSIBLE. Ultimately while I appreciate the ability to make my phone into essentially anything I want I think that once you start making those changes you take full possession of the phone. I don't want Samsung to go "hey, we had a bunch of phones returned because the idiots bricked them by flashing a bad rom, we should make it so you can't do that to keep them from ruining their phones and costing us money"
alphadog00 said:
What are the dishonest practices that are perpetrated by these companies that would permit someone to lie in return? (assuming one wrong justifies another)
I don't have a problem with someone taking a bricked phone and saying it doesn't work - all these devices should have a way to recover - like Odin allows and like the iPhone allows - recovery mode then reflash to stock. You could have reflashed your firmware to stock and return it to the apple - nothing dishonest about that.
What I do have a problem with is the idea that lying to the company is justified - this concept that "They were dishonest with me, so i can lie to them". I want some justification for that - where is the corporate deceit?
No one made me any promises when i bought my phone - I had 30 days to return it if it didn't work the way i wanted it too. The rate plans are spelled out pretty clearly, as are roaming and data.
They may not be priced fair in my mind, but I see nothing dishonest. I just want examples of dishonesty - not examples of a store manager saying something, examples of the corporation being dishonest.
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How about price fixing, dubious business practices, illegal political contributions, tax evasion, and breach of trust (These are allegations that samsung was CAUGHT doing, imagine all the stuff that's been going on behind closed doors).
http://www.corp-ethics.com/company/samsung/samsung-give-825m-charity.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/17/business/worldbusiness/17iht-17samsung.12083418.html
http://www.tomshardware.com/news/European-Union-Price-Fixing-DRAM,10462.html
NOW AGAIN, I'm not saying because Samsung engaged in these practices that it justifies one man's deceitful actions, all I'm saying is that no one is perfect... And I don't want to get started on what AT&T is guilty of.
Kreiger1981 said:
(I'm agreeing with quoted poster)
It's also an issue of trust. If people keep returning phones that were bricked due to rooting or flashing improperly, then eventually the phone companies will work to put some kind of lockdown on that type of thing. Hard to to? probably, but the latest fiasco with Efuse and such on the Droid X showed us that it's POSSIBLE. Ultimately while I appreciate the ability to make my phone into essentially anything I want I think that once you start making those changes you take full possession of the phone. I don't want Samsung to go "hey, we had a bunch of phones returned because the idiots bricked them by flashing a bad rom, we should make it so you can't do that to keep them from ruining their phones and costing us money"
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Or said companies can accept the fact that rooting et al will take place anyway, and make the process much easier. Jailbreaking is legal now right? Companies ought to develop a system where people can jailbreak/root without fear of bricking and companies will save money. It's a win-win
wuxingwarrior3 said:
Or said companies can accept the fact that rooting et al will take place anyway, and make the process much easier. Jailbreaking is legal now right? Companies ought to develop a system where people can jailbreak/root without fear of bricking and companies will save money. It's a win-win
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This phone is already ridiculously easy to flash and virtually impossible to brick, and we still have ethically bankrupt idiots pulling these stunts and then coming here to brag about it!
I would agree that we have blatant price fixing in regards to the price of text messages and probably in regards to other services too. These issues need to be addressed through the appropriate legal avenues. None of them turn "wrong" into "right".
Someone should sticky the below post
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=753946
It IS possible to brick the phone. Anyone who spouts off about how it is impossible is dead wrong. See post seven of the above thread. While what the OP did is wrong on some level, the severity is debatable for the next hundred years. I will say that the community shares some responsibility though. There are not enough warnings about bricking, everyone simply states that it's nearly impossible. I've seen numerous posts asking for help on a device that is as the OP described in his other thread and the only things that are posted are the typical "It can't be bricked, you're just doing it wrong" posts. Having personally seen one such device, I've read a lot of threads about it. Most are simply stuck at the android failsafe screen or in a boot loop but there are indeed complete bricks and not enough attention is given to them or how to avoid them. In short, the OP does deserve some slack.
Wow wtf happened to this site?
Sent from my Samsung Captivate.
http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/20...+wired/index+(Wired:+Index+3+(Top+Stories+2))
WTF? How is this legal? I think most smartphone users DON'T know about this. How do they get their spy-crap on our phones anyway? Is there an antispyware to stop this?
Read the article, what a pathetic way to try to convince people that spying on them is harmless. No idiots here, fool.
i smell class action law suit. Hopefully the payments will go out to Trev, XDA, and the EFF
Yeah every day seems to get worse for them
I can see how the technology could be useful.
But there are too many questions unanswered.
1. the privacy of the end user.
2. the costs involved for the end user.
3. the reasons for it being hidden from the end user.
Exactly Omega, exactly right!
P.s. for anyone who hasn't read the full article, few features;
1 Microsoft says this never has or will be on Windows Phone 7
2 Apple says this has been on many devices up until iOS5
3 No word on Android (oh ****)
4 This is done through the carriers. They usually add this after it's manufactured. So this is the 'extra layer' they add on. I suppose that means once we put on Cyanogen, that stuff is gone - because nothing from those guys remains.
5. They said this is mostly in the US...the US carriers then. They mentioned 3 big ones in the article, I think two of them were T Mobile and Verizon.
We know that almost every device is watching us, but the stuff that spyware does is incredible...
So far can only find this on yank carrier branded devices. Maybe something to do with the Patriot Act, the grubberment wanting to know what you be doing on your phones.
Yes, the government were mentioned, as one of the main parties despite the carriers wanting that info.
Separately, I stumbled upon a company which says it sells tech. subverting software to governments which gets through devices like Blackberry. So all those BB users in the Arab world are not getting private communication, even if they're paying for it and believing it.
if anyone is interested, I posted a thread in General as well to go after them. The lawyer said the more people we can get signed up the greater attention it will get. Help out and try and make a difference.
illuminati guys the government is spying on us to try and take over the world. Why do you think in the US b/c they are the government with the most power.
Sent from my HTC Glacier using Tapatalk
Please continue discussion here
I was quite disgusted to see how the mods failed to interpret the law, and how they reacted in this thread.
Someone cited a proposed Senate bill, not an actual law that's on the books, and the mod reacted as if it were law. And worse, the proposed legislation actually exempted XDA participants anyway:
(d) Exception- Subsection (b) shall not apply to the manufacturer of a
mobile device or a person who repairs or refurbishes a mobile
device unless the manufacturer or person knows that the mobile
device or part involved is stolen.'.
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This is the thread that emerges in search results. What an embarrassment to xda. Is xda not interested in creating a forum for those who repair mobile devices?? Some of whom actually seek to alter their IMEI back to its original number after bricking wiped it out are being denied support. How foolish is that?
I propose the lock be removed from that thread, and zelendel apologize for the error.
Great to see someone hitting the books and citing real published sources rather then spreading paranoia based on hearsay. Always seek a published source to back up anything you spread or specify that it is not confirmed true and is speculative.
I did ++ your post bro, I ranted about MEID repair stuff in cricket users I should probably rant about it here too, I'm sick and tired of everyone assuming that one who is attempting to repair an MEID is a thief/fence. Likewise there are legal ways to discuss that topic (this is speculative because I'm too lazy to pull up legislation right now, I have a headache and I was nodding out in the middle of reading up on AT commands) like I'm pretty sure (but I don't have the law to cite so someone else should do find it) that zeroing out and changing and MEID to the one that was originally registered to the device (the one under the battery) is legal to do and doesn't violate any FCC or other federal regulations. I'm pretty sure I have read that and did cite it in my rant on the subject at cricket-users. But some people just decide to demonize an activity and do witchunts. I will say right out that I regularly repair MEID numbers and any phone I beleive to be stolen that I ever run across I go through the phone book and find the ICE or obvious family contacts and arrange to return the stolen property, even if is a handset I purchased and then found to be stolen I will willingly loose that money to get someone their **** back. I've had many phones stolen from me and it's messed up and I wouldn't do that to someone else.
When phones are stolen their MEID normally only remains on the blacklist for the duration of the phone being on that account, once the person replaces the phone and activates it, this releases the stolen phone's MEID from the database and allows it to be activated again (this practice is verified to be Sprint policy by a high-tier CSR I spoke with during a support call, I had a phone stolen from me by the police, not making this up, and I was trying to permanently prevent it from being activatable. It is not easy.)
So if you have a problem with MEID repairing be real about it, don't act like anyone who mentions it is a thief and start lodging accusations. It is against this site's current policy and any such comments discussing how to do these things should be taken down, but stop flaming people that post about it, thiefs don't even need to go through all that trouble they just have to wait for the phone they stole to be replaced on the account. The only way a phone gets meid blacklisted on a long term or permanent basis (besides submitting an override form to sprint that basically says yeah my stuff was jacked and I want to make sure no one can ever activate this phone again) is from broken service contracts. The phones that were subsidized by agreeing to a annual service contract will be blacklisted by that carrier until the account is repaid.
That is the truth about the MEID repair bullies, they are really just supporting the carriers' ability to shake down bad customers for money, they really don't give a **** if a device is stolen, that just means they get to sell another device at full unsubsidized price.
It's interesting how a proposed bill gets interpretted as law. Anyone can write a bill. Some average joe can write a bill, and submit it to Congress for signing. Then they can post the bill publicly, reference it in an XDA thread, and get mods to close a thread.
I did an "alert" on the mods post in that other thread. It will be interesting to see if XDA can correct the error. Hopefully the alert doesn't go to the mod who acted irrationally.
Here are the results of the attempt to get the thread closure overturned:
"the mod is a senior mod so his decision cannot be overturned. but google this question that will provide more updated info status on this"
How can a senior mod be so reckless?
And since when is "google" a higher source than the Cornell law publications? Google is what created the mess in the first place. Someone googled, read a proposed law that was long past dead, and interpreted it as law.