Now Your Phone Needs A Licence

The only reason is 'cause "Big Mamma" wants to watch everything - or at least know who to find - a draconian infringement on human right to free speech.

And what is it with SA - where every dog and his master wants your id number.

This dog government is ending up worse than the previous regime.

:mad:

Under the recently promulgated Regulation of Interception of Communications & Communication-Related Information Act (Rica), anyone selling or giving away a cellphone or Sim card will have to make and keep a record of the recipient’s name and address, and a photocopy of their ID.
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Highflyer_GP said:
I may be in the minority here but I think this is a good thing. It may help crack down on criminals making use of the convenience of simply buying a sim and using it, then dumping it for another sim so that they can't be traced.
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swordfish1 said:
I also think that this is a good thing, if implemented properly!
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You mean the same way in which:
- a stupid "initiative" to ban free plastic bags has stopped the shops from giving them out for free.
- making most of the legal guns illegal has stopped criminals from getting them illegally or stealing them and using them on people who are now defenceless.
- requiring proof of residence to open a bank account has stopped criminals from printing out "proof" on their home pc's.
- reporting all banking transactions from R5000 upwards has stopped criminals from transferring money in increments of R4999.
- a law to make medicine cheaper thought up by someone who probably bought her "doctors degree" or recited it like a parrot has had the desired effect.
- a proposal to ban games because of titles like GTA (because it teaches people to kill the police) and Warcraft (because it's racist) would have done any good.

There are too many examples to list here. These are all products of a totalitarian regime like ours who want to know every aspect of your life. Things were better under apartheid without the ANC ruling things the know absolutely nothing about.
 
Prometheus said:
There are too many examples to list here. These are all products of a totalitarian regime like ours who want to know every aspect of your life. Things were better under apartheid without the ANC ruling things the know absolutely nothing about.
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You do know the NATS had Television banned until 1973?! U do know Madonnas book "SEX" was banned here in SA in 1990... (and it was all black/white photography of nude poses) the banned examples are too numerous to answer.

The Cell phone thing is a good idea , just someone obviously didnt have his thinking cap on... its the same on the Interception act. The biggest problem in SA politics is that all the people that are making the rules have absolutely no clue how to operate a microwave oven
 
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RichardP said:
You do know the NATS had Television banned until 1973?!
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I think that had more to do with SA trailing behind like always. Then television was under the control of the NP. Now its government propaganda at the order of the day. Things haven't changed that much, it's all just out of a different viewpoint now.

Every regime has their agendas. With this one it seems to be control over communication. Every controlling regime has its end and believe me I don't want to be on the wrong side when it arrives. The time for pickaxes are coming... :eek:
 
Prometheus said:
You mean the same way in which:
- a stupid "initiative" to ban free plastic bags has stopped the shops from giving them out for free.
- making most of the legal guns illegal has stopped criminals from getting them illegally or stealing them and using them on people who are now defenceless.
- requiring proof of residence to open a bank account has stopped criminals from printing out "proof" on their home pc's.
- reporting all banking transactions from R5000 upwards has stopped criminals from transferring money in increments of R4999.
- a law to make medicine cheaper thought up by someone who probably bought her "doctors degree" or recited it like a parrot has had the desired effect.
- a proposal to ban games because of titles like GTA (because it teaches people to kill the police) and Warcraft (because it's racist) would have done any good.

There are too many examples to list here. These are all products of a totalitarian regime like ours who want to know every aspect of your life. Things were better under apartheid without the ANC ruling things the know absolutely nothing about.
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Yeah my initial thoughts were that it had something to do with crime syndicates, but after dwelling on it for a while I suspect this definitely has something to do with number portability which comes into effect at around the same time this bill is passed. How else does one keep track of which prepaid number belongs to which person when they're switching between cell networks? I'm not saying this is the best way to go about things, and it may very well be implemented incorrectly, but the general idea is there. There has to be some kind of record stating that a certain number belongs to a certain person in order for number portability to work. In the end it creates some form of competition.

The question we we have to ask ourselves are do we or don't we want competition if it means handing out a copy of your ID? If anyone feels insecure about handing this out then they should buy their sim from a reputable dealer, not a street corner shop. Think about it, when you apply for anything you need to give in a copy of your ID. Whether it's a bank credit or debit account, application for a telkom prepaid or postpaid line, cellphone contract, major insurance claims, basically everything. If the end result creates effective competition we should be happy right? If it doesn't create competition then we have a right to moan about it. But the fact that 88% of cellphone users are on prepaid means that for once the telco's would have to start actually competing with each other in order to attract customers once number portability comes into effect.
 
Highflyer_GP said:
Yeah my initial thoughts were that it had something to do with crime syndicates, but after dwelling on it for a while I suspect this definitely has something to do with number portability which comes into effect at around the same time this bill is passed. How else does one keep track of which prepaid number belongs to which person when they're switching between cell networks? I'm not saying this is the best way to go about things, and it may very well be implemented incorrectly, but the general idea is there. There has to be some kind of record stating that a certain number belongs to a certain person in order for number portability to work. In the end it creates some form of competition.
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This has nothing to do with number portablility. The only thing the operators need to implement number portability is to know what number you are currently using. A tangible SIM card provided when you switch networks should be enough for that. This has everything to do with limiting peoples privacy. The fact that they require a record of every cellphone purchaced proves this. We all know that your number has nothing to do with the phone you're using.
 
The main objectives of the telecommunication interception legislation are to crack down on the use of cellphones in crime. Also, to secretly monitor the conversations, Short Message Services (SMSs) email and Internet meanderings of criminal and security suspects.
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"A market will develop for untraceable SIM cards. You cannot solve crime by making by passing legislation that takes away people's freedoms and privacy.

"Government should spend money on fighting crime rather than co-opting the private sector to do policing on its behalf," Davie said.
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Where every word is watched people will naturally watch their words. We know a lot about abuse - and this one is surely ripe for abuse.
 
kilo39 said:
Where every word is watched people will naturally watch their words. We know a lot about abuse - and this one is surely ripe for abuse.
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Like I said. The pickaxes are coming and I can only smile. :D
 
All I'm saying is that maybe everyone is jumping the gun a bit without giving thorough thought. I know there may be ulterior motives, wrong implementation etc. But think about the positives that may arise. Its funny how nobody has a problem with providing their details when acquiring a cellphone on contract but suddenly there's a big moan when it comes to prepaid. I was always of the opinion that contract users have to take a backseat to prepaid users. Prepaid users have the ability to hide their numbers for free. They were the first to get off-peak sms rates, and there are still contract users who don't get this benefit. This just levels the playing field a bit, just using different methods of payments. Sort of like a debit and credit bank account. One still has to provide their details, just a different way of conducting transactions.

I think the main issue comes from prepaid users who became so accustomed to the current system of being anonymous yet still receiving benefits. In order to buy a cellphone or sim card one now has to provide their ID. This would mean that one has to be at least 16 years old in order to use a cellphone. I don't really see a problem unless you have something to hide. A lot of banks and companies require this kind of information when doing business with them. Does anyone really approve of 6 year olds walking around with modern cellphones knowing what those phones are capable of? Access to the internet, and along with that porn. I find the biggest irony with parents who are irresponsible enough to put a cellphone in their kids hands and then complain about the amount of mobile porn content available.
 
I don't think anyone is jumping the gun here. I know exactly where this **** started. Once upon a time there was a person who bought two cellphones anonymously. He connected the ringing speaker of one of the phones to a detonator and blew up a car or a building (I can't remember what it was) by calling the phone from the other phone. Government said that from now on you will need to provide identification whenever you purchased airtime. The shops said that would be overkill and would be impossible to implement effectively, rather require identification for phones and SIM cards. And what do we have now?

As for six year olds downloading porn. I don't think so. Any six year old seeing porn will just look at it funny, giggle a bit and move on to something more interesting. And teenagers downloading porn. What's the big deal anyway. If you think they aren't already sexually active you are making a big mistake. From a forum I read the average age for masturbation is between 10 and 12 for both boys and girls. And they are perfectly capable of making their own fantasies so by making an effort to keep them away from porn just proves to them that there is indeed something to it. Making the attraction bigger in a sense.
 
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I'd like to know how this law is going to be enforced? Remember the fiasco with the new driver's licences how people procrastinated right till the cutoff date? There will have to be incentives for registering your number otherwise nobody is going to do it. They will probably cut your number off in the end.
 
What is that suppose to mean? Are you perhaps saying that governments are not trying to take away peoples freedom and are not spying on them.
 
There's another saying:
Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they aren't looking...
 
argggg!!! what are you so worried about? do you really think they are gonna be watching every sms and email that you send??

this whole thing is aimed at criminals and security suspects. :rolleyes:
 
If so then why can the US listen in on a tenth of their phone lines all at the same time? These laws are aimed at EVERYONE.
 
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