Lawmakers Push for Prepaid phone ID Requirement

[Ben]

Schumer...gee, what a shocker.

If there were a prepaid phone that offered non-expiring minutes, I'd buy a boatload of them right now.

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http://www.reuters.com/article/idCNN2621830320100526?rpc=44


US lawmakers push for ID to buy prepaid cell phones
Wed, May 26 2010

WASHINGTON, May 26 (Reuters) - Two U.S. senators proposed legislation on Wednesday to make it easier to identify buyers of prepaid cell phones, moving to close a loophole that had enabled criminal and terror suspects to avoid detection.

Under the proposal by Democrat Charles Schumer and Republican John Cornyn, buyers of the prepaid cell phones would have to produce identification at the time of purchase and phone companies would have to keep that information on file.

"For years, terrorists, drug kingpins and gang members have stayed one step ahead of the law by using prepaid phones that are hard to trace," Schumer said in a statement. "There's no reason why it should still be this easy for terror plotters to cover their tracks."

In the most recent instance, the Pakistani-American accused of trying to ignite a car bomb in New York's Times Square, Faisal Shahzad, used a prepaid cell phone to make calls to Pakistan, according to the lawmakers.

When authorities matched a phone number in the call log on the device with a number given to U.S. Customs officials, they were able to trace it back to Shahzad, they said.

"A major lesson we've learned from the investigation and arrest of Faisal Shahzad is that we must require individuals purchasing a prepaid cell phone in this country to provide verified identifying information," Cornyn said.

Prepaid cell phones also have been used in alleged financial crimes. U.S. prosecutors in New York said some of the defendants in the Galleon Group hedge fund insider trading case used prepaid cell phones to avoid detection by authorities.

"We are reviewing the draft and look forward to working with the senators on this issue," Steve Largent, the head of CTIA-The Wireless Association, said in a statement. (Reporting by Jeremy Pelofsky, editing by David Alexander and Stacey Joyce)

[209]

Nope!  that's wrong.  Bad bill- bad idea.

[AZRedhawk44]

Poor illegal immigrants.  They'll have to get ID somehow to have phones.  Gee, I wonder what Schumer would do to help them out?   

I wonder what "ID" would be good enough?  Has anyone tried saying they are "John Q Public" when starting a new electricity account, and paying the security deposit rather than allowing a background check?  Then you have a bill in "your name" and a mailing address.  Stage 1 of an official ID.

Schumer...gee, what a shocker.

If there were a prepaid phone that offered non-expiring minutes, I'd buy a boatload of them right now.

Just buy one right now... then get pre-paid Visa cards that you buy with cash or money orders, to re-fill it.

Until they outlaw those pre-paid Visa cards, of course.

[eyebrows]

Boy o boy this will be just as effective as most gun laws. Of course there will have to be stings to catch straw buyers of phones.

Just buy one right now... then get pre-paid Visa cards that you buy with cash or money orders, to re-fill it.

Until they outlaw those pre-paid Visa cards, of course.

I might be wrong but I thought the Wal-Mart Green dot cards were one of the only pre-paid cards that don't require ID. All the visa pre-paids I've seen in the stores here have fine print on the back stating you must show ID and use identifiying info to activate the card online. I've never used a visa pre-paid so I'm just going off my sometimes foggy memory and it might be as easy as giving false info to get around it.

[Viking]

Because we all know there's no such thing as fake ID cards.

[Ben]

Until they outlaw those pre-paid Visa cards, of course.

Which of course speaks to the broader issue that most bothers me about this. It's not just an "ID requirement". It's basically another step to outlaw our right to anonymity. And of course it pretty much follows the playbook on the assault on our 2nd Amendment rights. "Gosh -- you don't want those nasty terrorists to be able to buy phones, do you? Honest people have nothing to fear."

[Tallpine]

Obviously, the time will come when they will have to outlaw cash 

[Monkeyleg]

Even if they pass an ID requirement for prepaid phones, the Democrats in Wisconsin will go to the wall to stop a photo ID bill for voting.

[SteveS]

Schumer...gee, what a shocker.

Wow, you would probably have to look hard to find some crappy legislation that didn't have his backing.  I don't understand his appeal.

[Boomhauer]

Obviously, the time will come when they will have to outlaw cash 

That time's a comin. That time's a comin...

"Well, EVERYBODY uses debit cards. Why do you need cash?
"We'll be able to stop drug sales"
"We'll be able to track terrorists"

Remember, they are already confiscating large amounts of cash off of people as "drug money"...

[longeyes]

The next generation of Founding Fathers will be hackers.

[KD5NRH]

Poor illegal immigrants.  They'll have to get ID somehow to have phones.

They'll go back to taking lawn chairs to the nearest pay phone.  Now, if you start requiring ID to buy the "call Mexico cheap" prepaid cards, they'll raise a stink.  The convenience store down the street from my old apartment used to have a line for their three pay phones.  The clerk said they'd come in, buy $20-50 worth of the $.08/minute-to-Mexico phone cards, and stick around until they were used up.

[AZRedhawk44]

All the visa pre-paids I've seen in the stores here have fine print on the back stating you must show ID and use identifiying info to activate the card online. I've never used a visa pre-paid so I'm just going off my sometimes foggy memory and it might be as easy as giving false info to get around it.

I've seen visa gift cards for sale in malls, usually around Christmas time.  Never read the fine print, but they're an over-the-counter cash transaction.  Not aware of any ID-activation requirement.

[red headed stranger]

But what will they do about people selling activated phones to each other in private transactions!!!

They'll have to close the loophole!!!   

[Sergeant Bob]

Obviously, the time will come when they will have to outlaw cash 

Too true, unfortunately.

[taurusowner]

Some of you will no doubt disagree, but Revelation 13:16-17 comes to mind when thinking of the outlawing of cash.

[PTK]

Indeed, the thought of outlawing cash does bring that to my mind.

[Blakenzy]

Well, gold itself was basically outlawed from individual possession and subject to confiscation during 1933(?), forcing citizens at the time to rely solely on bank paper. So, it isn't too hard to imagine a recall of all bank notes in exchange for Federal Reserve Debit Cards.

[TechMan]

Indeed, the thought of outlawing cash does bring that to my mind.

Like Apple tried to do if you purchased an iPad?

ID requirement sounds like Mexico's requirement for cellphones.