Lawmakers crack down on prepaid cells, cite terror (IDIOTS)

NEW YORK (AP) - Two lawmakers say it's time for prepaid cell phone users to identify themselves.



New York Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer (SHOO'-mur) and Texas Republican Sen. John Cornyn (KOHR'-nihn) have introduced legislation requiring consumers to produce identification before buying such phones

That's rattled some civil liberties groups, who say the bill may threaten privacy rights.



Prepaid phones can be a lifeline for people with limited incomes or poor credit.








http://www.wwmt.com/articles/lawmakers-1377463-prepaid-say.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

man, they just cannot stand it if they cant invade your privacy, can they

nt

That Police (band) song from the early 80s is becoming our national anthem.

You have to use a credit card to buy time, birthdate, etc.

Not with Tracfone at least. All you have to do is go buy a card at practically any convenience store and enter the number on the card into your phone

of a registration. When you add minutes, they have your information ready to go for verification.

And adding air time is easy. All you need is the number on the back of the card you paid cash for, hit prepaid on the menu and hit enter. At least that's how it works on mine.

All they know about me is
1. The name that I gave them-which is not the name on my ID.
2. My home phone number-which is the local time and temperature number
3. It's an Austin area phone

I don't use it for anything illegal, it's just that I don't think it's any of their business. I've used this phone for close to 6 years now.

I was bugged too as I like my anonymity.

Paid in cash, gave a fake name too. I'm no criminal I just don't see any reason to sacrifice any privacy I don't have to. Don't want to be in any phone directories or on anybody's lists. Cell phone numbers aren't published YET, but it's only a matter of time. I'm sure the government already knows who uses my phone anyway. You just have to remember what name you gave them if you need to go back to the store for service or anything, as I had to once.

They should be outraged at the assaults against personal freedom, but all you have to do is mention 'terrorism' to one of them and they instantly become ready to gut every right given us by the Constitution and Bill of Rights.

The pathetic war on terror is just another phrase for war on US, the citizens of this country. They will keep chipping away at individual rights until we have none left. I don't have a prepaid phone but even if they went away do they really believe it would stop terrorism? Do members of congress have their brains removed upon election?

It's sad that I can count on my hands the number of decent, courageous representatives in congress. The rest are corporate whores.

they dont need to know everything I purchase...its none of their beeswax

My husband has one that doesn't work worth a shit, however.

Regardless, I don't see how registering yourself when buying a prepaid cell helps prevent anything.

my sigline says it all

because they cannot be traced back to them.

Drug dealers & gun runners managed to do OK before the advent of pre-paid cells. They'll do OK if they can't use them anymore. Very adaptable, those guys!

Meanwhile, people like me whose minimal cell use doesn't justify the cost of a contract and a monthly bill, possibly get penalized. I don't mind showing an ID to buy one. But I fear ending up on some government list that puts me under suspicion of criminality.

Welcome to DU!!

Just like they do with the US mail, or public pay phones. Where do you draw the line? What's next? Show an ID to buy a stamp? Get rid of internet cafes? Check your driver's license before going into a library? Books are daaaangerous you know!

cheaper than a cell phone contract. I buy minutes every year when the time runs out, but I never use the phone. I only have it to make calls in emergencies, like when I'm on my boat. So, now, I have 1714 minutes I can use. Next year, I'll have another 800 minutes to add to that. I've made three calls on that phone in two years.

As for showing ID, I have no problem with that at all. Why should I? I don't see the issue, frankly.

him in the summertime. That way if they are fishing or someplace and need something, they can call him and he can bring what they need without them having to come all the way home then go back to what they were doing. Example: flat tire on their bike or got hungry while fishing.

of the word, terror as a tool to play on our instinctive drives in order to destroy our privacy and pass draconian laws on the road to Fascism. If we were all terrified by our own capacity towards imaginary fears, that misused and biased word would not buzz in our ears regularly.

So, I demand an end to verbal terrorism in the sense that the word is bandied about as a lubricant for injustice and has only relative meaning.

Of course, coming in second is, "To protect, (or for) the children."

I mean not just with terrorism but also with the drug trade - pre-paid phones are big with those that deal drugs on the streets. But for someone with bad credit who might need a cell phone for an emergency - they need these phones too.

Personally, I think every phone number should be registered to a person - simple as that. Of course I could buy a pre-paid cell phone and then give that phone to a Terrorist or Drug Dealer, but at least there would have a start point with tracking down the phone.

And as for 'invasion of privacy' - well I can't get my landline or regular cell phone without having my name assigned to it. Why should pre-paid be an exception?

These jackasses are saying we have to be afraid of everything :argh:

There is increasingly smaller and smaller toleration for anonymity in our society, truly a shame.

You could give your friend the number to call you at the car repair place or the Laundromat in case you needed a ride? And the call was FREEE! No more. The war on drugs took care of that. Then they finally did away with pay phones all together because you might use one to make (oooohhhoo) "a drug deal" . (cue the music from COPS.. bad boy bad boy..)

Now I can't buy a cold pill because I might use it to make chrystal meth and if I buy more than 12 pills the Wal-Mart Clerk reports me.

And I can't buy a pre-paid cell phone W/O 10 forms of I.D. and a finger scan 'cause I might be a terrorist.

It's all getting to be too much. If these jerk-wads in CONgress worked as hard to provide JOBS instead of Jail.. we'd all be millionaires.

so we wont notice that THEY are bad guys.

In the jail. As a prisoner you can do slave labor at a jailhouse call center. Or if you are clever enough not to get caught in the ever increasingly dense web of laws in our country, hey, they need prison guards, since we have the highest incarceration rate in the world:shrug:

including that five sided cell in Arlington but then moving right along to the group of boxes in the Langly suburb of McLean. Of course we wouldn't want to leave out several corporate headquarters world wide, including some global financial institutions, mostly housed in the City of London. THEN, maybe we can go after the criminal networks they use as funding and covert resources.

Hey, Agent Mike! :9 Luv Ya! :hi:

Jesus. But this will fool most people.