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Related but the IMEI blacklist is the definition of collusion. It's done serious damage to the used phone market. Even if an IMEI comes back clean, there's not

Related but the IMEI blacklist is the definition of collusion. It's done serious damage to the used phone market. Even if an IMEI comes back clean, there's nothing stopping former owner from reporting it as stolen later on and causing the phone to become worthless across all providers in the US. I'm not pro-theft, but there's no way to be 100% sure a device is going to work and not flag when purchasing used anymore. Apple's method of doing icloud lock was a far more elegant solution to the theft problem.

gok 9y ago
It’s collusion in the sense that agreeing to use an industry standard is collusion (which is to say, it isn’t collusion).
- mindslight 9y ago
  Standards are generally classes, not instances. Having said that, what we really need to focus on is getting baseband software ripped open so that there are no longer any fixed identifiers such as IMEIs. Hardware with a mandatory surveillance identity has no place in a Free society.
MBCook 9y ago
I seem to remember it’s also dramatically lowered phone theft rates.
ndesaulniers 9y ago
Something very wrong is going on with IMEI blacklist. We had a brand new phone stop connecting to T-mobile's network (in the US). When we went in to the store, they told us the IMEI was reported as a stolen phone. I brought back my receipt showing it was a new phone when I got it. They said they could not unblock because they didn't put the block in place, a carrier in Mexico did. The phone has never been used outside of the country, to the best of my knowledge. When I called the carrier in Mexico, they told me it was not possible for them to blacklist the IMEI of a device that's never been on their network, and that they had no record of my IMEI. I ended up returning my phone, at the expense of the manufacturer. Also, frequently when I sell my old phones on eBay, people love to ask for the IMEI to check the blacklist, but I believe they can also be programmitically swapped (the potential buyer has a blacklisted/stolen phone, and simply asks for a valid one), so I never provide it.
- sitepodmatt 9y ago
  Shouldn't this be the retailers problem, I've have kicked up a shit storm for a replacement there and then.
  - ryanlol 9y ago
    It should be your telcos problem if they’re refusing to give you service which you paid for because of your IMEI.

gok 9y ago

It’s collusion in the sense that agreeing to use an industry standard is collusion (which is to say, it isn’t collusion).

mindslight 9y ago
Standards are generally classes, not instances. Having said that, what we really need to focus on is getting baseband software ripped open so that there are no longer any fixed identifiers such as IMEIs. Hardware with a mandatory surveillance identity has no place in a Free society.

MBCook 9y ago

I seem to remember it’s also dramatically lowered phone theft rates.

ndesaulniers 9y ago

Something very wrong is going on with IMEI blacklist. We had a brand new phone stop connecting to T-mobile's network (in the US). When we went in to the store, they told us the IMEI was reported as a stolen phone. I brought back my receipt showing it was a new phone when I got it. They said they could not unblock because they didn't put the block in place, a carrier in Mexico did. The phone has never been used outside of the country, to the best of my knowledge. When I called the carrier in Mexico, they told me it was not possible for them to blacklist the IMEI of a device that's never been on their network, and that they had no record of my IMEI. I ended up returning my phone, at the expense of the manufacturer. Also, frequently when I sell my old phones on eBay, people love to ask for the IMEI to check the blacklist, but I believe they can also be programmitically swapped (the potential buyer has a blacklisted/stolen phone, and simply asks for a valid one), so I never provide it.

sitepodmatt 9y ago
Shouldn't this be the retailers problem, I've have kicked up a shit storm for a replacement there and then.
- ryanlol 9y ago
  It should be your telcos problem if they’re refusing to give you service which you paid for because of your IMEI.