jimktrains2 parent
We can do that in the US too. I don't believe there is coöperation between international carriers, though.
This and the fact that they can sell phones for a fortune (~retail price) in emergent markets, instead of local black market prices (30%) means robbers will organize shipping lots of phones overseas. That's what happens in France already.
You're probably right - I think that's more valuable to coordinate rather than a mandatory kill switch.
But how? I can't see any realistic chance of a broad international agreement. Remember that it works both ways, too. What would you do if your phone stopped working because a telecoms company in (say) Nigeria accidentally asserted that your IMEI was stolen?
Saying "wouldn't it be great if the world could co-ordinate" is not the answer as it isn't realistic. It's avoiding the problem and the need to come up with practical solutions. Or even an honest "it can't be done" answer.
Surely carrier A wouldn't let carrier B be able to block an imei belonging to their customers.
If carrier B did block it though, you, customer of carrier A, wouldn't be able to roam in the network of carrier B - but still work fine in your home network of carrier A.
However, that results in carriers needing to assert ownership over an imei, which would be come quite a mess - so it very well could not be done.
I do believe national blacklisting registers of imeis, as already done for many years in certain european countries is much better than not doing it though.
That makes sense - an earlier response to my comment about how apple handles things with user PINs is probably a better approach.
I whole-heartedly agree.