Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., introduced a bill on Wednesday that would impose a five-year prison sentence for tampering with the unique ID number of stolen cell phones, the latest in a series of moves designed to crack down on the rising threat of smartphone theft. The legislation (S 3186) is designed to prevent thieves from swapping out a phone's SIM card and re-activating it with a new number, allowing it to be sold on the black market. The major wireless carriers, which partnered with Schumer and the FCC in April to set up a nationwide database of unique cell phone ID numbers, have endorsed the legislation.
Quotable: “As part of the effort to shut down the black market for stolen iPhones, we must make it abundantly clear to would-be thieves, if you try to alter a stolen cell phone to get around the ban, you will face severe consequences. This legislation will help dry up the black market for stolen cell phones by making the consequences for peddling in this illegal business so severe, thieves would think twice before doing so.” --Sen. Chuck Schumer The Economist on Eduardo Saverin Going Ex-Pat: The Economist's Democracy in America blog takes on critics of Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin, a naturalized Brazilian-American that has decided to renounce his citizenship ahead of the social networking giant's initial public offering. Saverin has been savaged in the press as ungrateful to his adopted nation (he became a U.S. citizen in 1998), but the Economist notes Saverin will have to pay capital gains taxes on all his current stock holdings, which could amount to a half billion dollars headed to Uncle Sam's wallet. Saverin is betting that Facebook will be worth more after the IPO, the same bet most of Wall St. is making. But it's hard to argue his tenure as an American hasn't been a net positive for the U.S. Saverin told the New York Times his decision was not about the money in an interview published today.