By Gemma Simpson, 5 April 2007 12:08
NEWS
The government is introducing stiff new penalties for the reprogramming of stolen mobile phones in an effort to eradicate handset theft.
Four-fifths of stolen mobile phones are blocked within 48 hours, according to research from industry body the Mobile Industry Crime Action Forum.
And now, from tomorrow, anyone found offering to or agreeing to reprogramme a mobile phone will face up to five years in jail and/or an unlimited fine.
Currently police officers have to catch someone in the act of reprogramming a mobile before they can arrest them. The new measure is part of the Violent Crime Reduction Act which received Royal Assent on 8 November last year.
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Home Secretary John Reid said the government is determined to stamp out mobile phone theft and that's why mobile thieves are being dealt a double whammy.
Reid said in a statement: "Because crimes - like mobiles themselves - are always changing we will now work with the industry and police to anticipate the crimes of the future so we can design out problems in the next generation of phones before they develop."
Research from System Concepts found the five major operators - 3, O2, Orange, T-mobile and Vodafone are now blocking more than 80 per cent of stolen mobile phones within the 48-hour time period.
The government and mobile phone operators announced a commitment to help cut mobile phone street thefts last year after phone pilfering contributed to an eight per cent rise in UK robbery.
The five major operators also signed a charter last year that saw them agreeing to block stolen phones across each of the UK's networks within 48 hours or face having their failures exposed.
Glasgow was named as the city with the highest rate of mobile phone theft in the UK, with nearly one-third of Glaswegians surveyed having had their handset stolen, according to research from card and mobile protection company CPP.
Comments
There are 5 comments. Join the discussion
1. anonymous
IMHO the new law addresses reprogramming such things as the IMEI you are still able to remove network locking to use your phone on any network.
2. BillK
Blocking 80% of stolen mobile phones in 48 hours is just not good enough. The thief still gets to use the stolen phone. At worst it could increase thefts by forcing more frequent phone thefts.
We need a security system that includes an immediate stop system so that only the real owner can use a mobile phone. As the capabilities of mobile phones increase this is becoming even more important to protect the data held on the mmobile device. Like the disk encryption systems that are appearing on laptops.
Mobile phone theft will only stop when the device is useless away from the real owner.
3. anonymous
Perhaps the law should also include provision / obligation for the Mobile phone suppliers to unlock phones for customers who change their network.
At the moment most phones are 'locked' into a single network and this law will make it more difficult to switch between suppliers.
While I agree with the reasoning behind the law please think of the full consequences
4. Anonymous
Increasing the penalties for mobile Phone theft will remain pointless and ineffective whilst the detection rate is so abysmally low because the police still treat it as a low priority matter, whatever John Reid says. Anyway, it is reckoned that the huge majority of stolen phones are sent overseas. Who in eastern Europe or darkest Africa cares a damn about their phone's provenance and whether or not they should re-program it?
5. anonymous
The Magistrate makes sense.
Another law without the means to enforce it, or the prison places to contain those caught.
How is this hot air good for the environment?