Law Proposed to Track All Pre-paid Cell Phones

[ancientrelic]

How hard would it be for a criminal/terrorist to get a fake ID? Heck they use em all the time for alcohol/tobacco products....

 

[Azriel4444]

Wow! I'm pretty sure I was ID when I signed up for my Sprint contract... like 6 years ago. Why not make it so every carrier has to keep data for every cell phone for 18 months. Sounds pretty equal to me. Not that I really want that, but fair is fair.

 

[Kryan]

this registering of pre paid cards is already implemented in South Africa (my home country). It SUCKS and most of the population hates it. I like the anononymity of a pre paid card, as well as the (obvious) hassle free payment means.

 

[ksampanna]

I thought Tom's was being racist! Until I read the note.

 

[p3t3or]

lol, before I saw the edit note, I said the same thing. wtf is with that picture.

 

[mlopinto2k1]

[citation][nom]JMcEntegart[/nom]Have added a note to the article explaining the the characters in the picture actually evade the law using prepaid cell phones. Hopefully that should clear things up. I'm genuinely sorry if I caused anyone any offense. That was definitely not my intention.[/citation]Oh god I love these threads! LOL

 

[mlopinto2k1]

Anyway, as far as the propositioned law goes... you can thank all your friendly neighborhood drug ring, terrorist bombing scumbags for these kinds of rules to be setup.

Soon, people are going to start taking responsibility into their own hands. Kind of like the Military. You know, when one guy screws up, the rest pay for it. Well, they usually beat the shit out of that guy at night. Hint, hint...

 

[taiso]

if they had used characters from breaking bad would you still be calling racism? people are so sensitive. i thought it was a good example. and i've just heard of the show but if you're familiar with the topic its easy to make the connection.

 

[Clintonio]

To those screaming racism;
If it were a group of arabs who looked vaguely traditional; it'd be fine. Afterall, we have no 'white guilt' towards arabs.
If it were a group of white people who looked aggressive or even normal, it'd be fine. Afterall, we're too arrogant to realize that we're probably the most hated race on the planet. (Hint; They like our money, not our skin colour)

Also; I think asking everyone to register their phone, like they do with a contract, isn't unreasonable. We already have to register internet connections. Rather than using terrorism, I think the gangs/ drug cartel issues are far more pressing.

 

[annymmo]

[citation][nom]thejester420[/nom]I hate this whole, "If I'm a law abiding citizen I have nothing to hide" mentality... If your a law abiding citizen then you shouldn't be monitored...period. everyday we inch closer and closer to George Orwell's 1984.... "Those who give up liberty for security deserve neither liberty nor security" Ben Franklin[/citation]

FOr me it isn't about hiding or showing.
The information also becomes available for bad people.
All the information that gets stored everywhere is a huge security risk. Not only bad for bad people doing bad things.
But also people who actually need to hide information to prevent getting harmd or letting other people harmed because of it.
Think about the fiasco of the government: confidential information leaked on P2P networks. Because the government-people used it and found it so handy. It costed them a whole year to find the leak. And instead of a little education or everybody first has to ask permission from a knowledgeable person combined with a application white and black list that they can check themselves. They make a bill about P2P that it should be illegal. Now why don't we connect every webcam in the world 24/7 to the internet and leave it on when we can?

 

[demonhorde665]

[citation][nom]littlec[/nom]Lol yeah this is some pretty racist stuff right here. While I've known a lot of black friends to sell pot(etc) that is still profiling. Anyways in regards to the content of the text I hear the groans of drug dealers everywhere(of ALL skin colors). Which isn't exactly a bad thing as far as the dealing of controlled substances and the crime associated with it. However I see the inter-country dealing of marijuana as a grey area.[/citation]


as much as we may dislike it racial profiling is not considered a racist activity , cops still do it is part of thier job tuth be toldcops simply refer to it as profiling just teh meida calls it racial profiling to get ratings. the actual profiling isnt soley hinged on race, thoguh race is part of a given profile they look at how that person dresses and acts not jsut thier race. a black guy that weres turtlenecks and slacks wont be profiled as a possible criminal , but a white guy with long hair that wears death emtal t shirts wil be profiled the fact he is "white " is only part of the profile not teh whole profile.


suffice to say i'm a whtie guy with long hair i hate racism and i hate police profiling but i'd rather them profil if it helps catch dangerous criminals, regardelss of said criminal's race

 

[wongster]

I am black as well and i dont think this is racist either

 

[pinkfloydminnesota]

I have secrets. Legal secrets, but secrets I don't want the gov't to know about. If that means terrorists have access to prepaid cell phones, that's a risk I'm willing to take.

 

[Dirtman73]

I've never seen The Wire, but I knew immediately where the picture came from. Chill folks. It's all good.

 

[TheKurrgan]

Wow the picture detracted so much from the article no one even cares for the most part about the ACTUAL issue. The issue is, the government wants to be able to track ALL cell phone users and who they called. Why I ask? If most people are law abiding, are they not entitled to privacy? Perhaps Its nice to be able to go to the store and buy a cell phone like a walkie talkie and have some privacy about the matter. Who really cares? But the government is going to use this as yet another way to remove privacy from us, citing the bombing as a reason. Riddle me this batman: Any smart terrorist is going to find a way around any method used to track them. Why make the honest Americans loose liberties for it? And as for the dumb ones, those arent the ones to worry about. Hell, I can sit with a fairly inexpensive scanner and monitor the 430 - 470 frequency range and find several methods to communicate without being tracked, but go a long ways: Method 1: LTR Trunking systems. Not going into detail, but one may use these easily and buy a 700 pro series radio and talk for potentially hundreds of miles. This would be potentially illegal, but if they are a criminal or a terrorist, what does it matter if its legal or not.

 

[WHComp]

There is a huge mistake with the comment about "The Wire." In season 1 they didn't use pre-paid cell phones at all. They used payphones. It was season 3 that they started using the pre-paid phones.
All the supposed "fans" of the show on here how did no one catch that.

 

[enforcer22]

[citation][nom]LLJones[/nom]They chip away at every little piece of privacy we have left. It won't be much longer before you will need to show your papers just to walk down the street. I'm trying to think of where I have seen such a society before. Drawing a bit of a blank, seem to recall a guy with a funny mustache and something about a hammer and sickle.[/citation]

What are you smoking. They have been tracking cell phones for years. Prepaid has just been a loophole that finaly someone is fixing. You send signals over the air and you complain about privacy thats almost as funny as getting mad at someone for looking at you nakid in public becuase you took your cloths off. They are tracking where the calls are being made to and from along with where you are when the calls are made. Tell me please WHAT cell company doesnt already do that for a normal cell plan. I also find nothing racist about this picture just throwing that out there. Mostly i find people that find offence in places such as pictures are the racist them selves.

 

[JMcEntegart]

[citation][nom]WHComp[/nom]There is a huge mistake with the comment about "The Wire." In season 1 they didn't use pre-paid cell phones at all. They used payphones. It was season 3 that they started using the pre-paid phones. All the supposed "fans" of the show on here how did no one catch that.[/citation]

In season one the police tap the payphones and clone the pagers used by Barksdale's crew. In episode 7, Stringer tells everyone to stop using the payphones because he's worried about a snitch. Shortly after, the payphones are ripped out, which kills the wire tap. After this happens, a select few members of the crew are given pre-paid cell phones. Nokia 3310s if I remember correctly.

 

[Guest]

Maybe they should've used a picture from Weeds? An older, but stil great looking, white female drugs dealer would have be really the best route to go.

 

[signedup+1]

Just posted to say fuck no! I ain't in China, poor me a beer.