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It's the government sticking its nose where it doesn't belong. We are talking about phones, not a gun. I'm not a criminal, so I shouldn't be treated as one. I think I should be able to own a phone without the government knowing about it, because they only want to know about it so they can keep tabs on us. Lets not make the incompetents job easier for them. Lots of things can be used for criminal reasons, should the government know when we buy a screw driver because it can be used to break into a car? The sad thing is many of the countries we attack to bring freedom to have more personal freedoms then us. You can't even open up a bank account in this country anymore without them wanting your life story.
I forgot to add, what gives the government the right to dictate what private companies can do?
Explain to me how taking 10 seconds to show your ID when paying for a prepaid phone is treating you like a criminal. And you think Iraq and Afghanistan have more freedom then us? Good one.
I don't like this law, but I think it's a necessary step to protect us from terrorists.
Location: Jonquil City (aka Smyrna) Georgia- by Atlanta
16,259 posts, read 24,784,250 times
Reputation: 3587
Quote:
Originally Posted by nicet4
Anyone that thinks this law is a good idea I have to wonder what their major malfunction is.
Rules By Which A Great Empire May Be Reduced To A Small One by Benjamin Franklin Rules by Which a Great Empire May Be Reduced to a Small One, first appeared in The Public Advertiser,September 11, 1773.
Like great Empires freedoms are most easily diminished at the edges.
Passage of this law won't stop anything.
Do you know how easy it is to forge fake government photo ID's that when printed on good paper and laminated are plenty good enough to fool any store clerk?
Took me all of five minutes to whip that one up. On good paper stock and laminated it probably won't fool many cops for long but it will the great majority of store clerks especially if using it outside of Florida. Like store clerks would really give a damn?
I have access to driver license templates for New Mexico, California, Georgia, New York, Ohio, Illinois and Arizona. Social security cards are so easy it's laughable.
I also have access to passport templates for the USA, Great Britain, Australia, France, China, Mongolia, New Zealand, Canada and all manner of African countries.
Company ID's make me laugh. Find a logo on the internet and make something up really fast.
(In case you are wondering I once was very active busting scams at 419eater.com).
Then there is the reseller business that is about to come up.
Or the prepaid you can buy in Mexico.
All this proposed law does is demonstrate how far out of touch with reality some politicians are.
Hey! Can you do one for Nevada?? I need one for Nevada so I can get the "resident discount" when I go to Las Vegas!
It is not because I have done nothing wrong that I have nothing to hide. It is because I have done nothing wrong that government has no right to monitor me. It really is that simple.
It's just like gun control. Who are gun control laws really for? Not for the organized crime members like from the Triads or MS13 that somehow get their hands on some pretty good AUTOMATIC weaponry. The UK has some of the strictest gun laws in the world, yet somehow criminal gangs manage to smuggle them in anyway. So who are you kidding with gun control laws I ask you, and with these monitoring laws? Criminals WILL find ways to go around it, I guarantee it. If you have nothing to hide, good for you, neither do I, but it's the principle of your rights that should count
50 years ago we did not have terrorist using prepaid celphone to make plans. But they could still track a pay phone used if the person held on long enopugh;no such privacy. Tracking has advanced and so has other ways to help law enforcement do there jobs. Afetr all they can track non-prepaid and the courts have upheld this . Its more a issue of ging law enforcement the tools to do what we have them for really.Its changes as times change and conditions change. Its always a compromise in rights assured by law enforcement and privacy rights.I have no problem with this as the courts haven't.
Location: Jonquil City (aka Smyrna) Georgia- by Atlanta
16,259 posts, read 24,784,250 times
Reputation: 3587
Quote:
Originally Posted by jimw144
Look for 50 years people put a quarter in a phone and made a call. No name was required and criminals used them. How in the world did the government ever catch any one.
These new laws are just for lazy law enforcement take your rights away make life easy on them.
Actually, when I lived in Chicago in the 1980s- before cell phones were common, they had a law there that required all pay phones to shut off after 7PM at night until 6AM in the morning. Only traceable calls made with a credit or calling card or 911 calls were allowed after 7PM and all phones had to be disabled from incoming calls. It was done to prevent "drug dealing" on the phones.
Location: Jonquil City (aka Smyrna) Georgia- by Atlanta
16,259 posts, read 24,784,250 times
Reputation: 3587
I am still on the fence here. On one hand, I do not have any pre paid phones and it will not affect me and even if I ever buy one, showing my ID is not that big a deal. But the question to me is not a question of privacy vs the government but more of effectiveness vs convenience. If somebody could show me where this law might be effective, then I might be inclined to support it. But all I think we will see is the true criiminals and others that do not wish to be identified will go to Ebay and other internet sites and buy SIM cards and phones. On the other hand, as far as retailers go, it probably is not a major inconvenience but what about the unmanned vending machines where you can buy the phones? Will they have to be removed? What about minors who do not have an official state ID yet? What about homeless people who just want to call home and might not have an ID? I know these are rare cases but the law would cause at least a small degree of inconvenience to innocent people. The only question is whether the law would cause enough inconvenience to those who use the phones for criminal use. And I think this is more about criminal use and less about "terrorist" than what the politicians say. The terrorist are far more sophisticated than to let this slow them down if they decide to do something.
Explain to me how taking 10 seconds to show your ID when paying for a prepaid phone is treating you like a criminal. And you think Iraq and Afghanistan have more freedom then us? Good one.
I don't like this law, but I think it's a necessary step to protect us from terrorists.
Dude, getting rid of pre paid cell phones isn't the secret weapon that is going to defeat terrorism. The government has used the terrorist excuse to make it easier for them to spy on law abiding American citizens. It made it easier for them to tap our phones, read our emails, monitor banks and wire transfers, etc.
A new law will require you to produce ID at the time of sale for all pre paid cell phones. It is being done to crack down on terrorist. Do you feel this is legit or a violation of your privacy?
Lawmakers seek prepaid cell crackdown, cite terror - Yahoo! News (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100608/ap_on_hi_te/us_cell_phones_terror - broken link)
Most definitely legit and a smart move by the gov.
This country is incredibly stupid, or atleast the people are. We always like to brag about our freedumbs, but we have no problem giving them up. I went to open up a bank account last month and It was like I was interviewing for a Secret Service job. They weren't sure I could open it up because I only had my passport, social security card, and birth certificate, my drivers license was expired by a week! They wanted to know where I worked, and what my job title was! Remember, I am giving them my money, not taking theirs... The entire process was stupid and inconvenient.
This country is incredibly stupid, or atleast the people are. We always like to brag about our freedumbs, but we have no problem giving them up. I went to open up a bank account last month and It was like I was interviewing for a Secret Service job. They weren't sure I could open it up because I only had my passport, social security card, and birth certificate, my drivers license was expired by a week! They wanted to know where I worked, and what my job title was! Remember, I am giving them my money, not taking theirs... The entire process was stupid and inconvenient.
They need to cover all the bases in case they need to collect on a debt. I don't blame them one bit. There's allot of trashy characters out there...
Maybe you should boycott banking?? Oh ya, I agree with your first sentence.
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