Out-Law / Your Daily Need-To-Know

A person commits an offence if he re-programs a mobile phone, unless he is the maker of the phone or has the written consent of the maker according to a new law which was passed in the UK on 24th July 2002. The law aims to reduce the trade in stolen phones and is being supported by an industry-led plan to create a database of stolen phone details.

The Mobile Telephones (Re-programming) Act of 2002 will not come into force until an order is made by the Secretary of State. It refers to changing interfering with the operation of a “unique device identifier” (known as an IMEI number) in a “mobile wireless communications device.” The maximum sentence under the Act is a five year prison term and a fine.

An offence will also be committed if it can be proved that an individual is in possession of equipment for reprogramming a phone with the intent of using the equipment for that purpose or, if supplying or offering to supply such equipment, he does so with the knowledge or belief that it will be used for that purpose.

Computer Weekly yesterday reported that the UK’s network operators are creating a shared database to enable the blocking of stolen mobile phones. The database, expected to be set up by the end of September, will bar phones across all networks by referring to their IMEI number.

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