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Re:California “Kill Switch” Bill Could Be Used to Disrupt Pr... by lemonlyman87 on Tuesday August 19, 2014 @03:18PM (#8199226)
As a critic of the bill, I'll readily concede that smartphone theft is a major problem. It's one of the most prominant crimes in urban areas, costs billions of dollars a year, and has in several occassions caused violence.

Still, it doesn't justify a mandatory kill switch (there are a large number of free apps you can download), and it certainly doesn't justify letting police use kill switches that are installed.

Re:California “Kill Switch” Bill Could Be Used to Disrupt Pr... by discardorama on Tuesday August 19, 2014 @04:27PM (#8199599)
This theft could be eliminated today : let there be a shared registry of stolen IMEI codes. Problem solved.
Re:California “Kill Switch” Bill Could Be Used to Disrupt Pr... by krasin on Tuesday August 19, 2014 @04:33PM (#8199630)
Many devices allow changing IMEI codes. See https://www.google.com/search?q=imei+code+change
Re:California “Kill Switch” Bill Could Be Used to Disrupt Pr... by kazinator on Tuesday August 19, 2014 @05:07PM (#8199824)
Furthermore, not allowing an identifier such as IMEI to be changed is a potential privacy problem!