UK Government Minister Says Gadget Makers Need To Make Their Products Harder To Steal
from the shifting-blame dept
It's not uncommon to see politicians blame gadgets for crimes, such as cameraphones for happy slapping, or white earphones for MP3 player theft, since it's far easier to blame faceless corporations and their products than to actually do something about the underlying crimes that occur. Now, in the UK, a government minister is taking things a step further by saying that gadget makers need to "design in features which reduce crimes". He also suggests that people buying new mobile phones should "ask how does this prevent people actually stealing it and selling it again, what are the anti-crime characteristics?" It's not entirely clear what he's after (apart from some political brownie points), but he cites the way mobile operators in the UK blacklist stolen phones so they can't be used, which means that stolen phones just end up getting sold overseas, not that they don't get stolen. It seems like this is just a way to shift some responsibility away from criminals, but particularly away from the police, and blame device manufacturers for making their products too attractive and too easy to steal. What's he want, anyway -- taser-equipped iPods and mobile phones with pepper spray?Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
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In a REAL economy...
So, you have to ask...what's causing the market to fail in this case? Are there any regulations, tariffs, taxes, or what have you, which interfere?
Maybe if they weren't so busy trying to improperly implement lame DRM schemes, there would be more time available to consider design features like security.
Less tongue in cheek, I believe the market failure is lack of knowledge among consumers. Honest knowledge of this problem and how widespread it is could easily help create the missing demand, were it truly a valid concern.
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If my MP3 player had an equipped taser...
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Re: If my MP3 player had an equipped taser...
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Repelent devices
If possible, make the items out of smelly plastic.
Job done!
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This is actually a good plan
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Lame thinking
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Pepper spray is illegal in the UK
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Doh...
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Seriously, the same problem that exists for a $100 phone exists with a $100 bill, but I don't hear anyone complaining about paper currency.
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Re:
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What's he want?
Actually, in a report earlier this year the government suggested that iPods should have fingerprint scanners built in, so that when stolen, they had no value to the thief.
It's embarrassing to be British some days...
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British
Geeb said: It's embarrassing to be British some days...
We have plenty of idiots in office here in the States, too. Politicians can be stupid no matter what country they're from.
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