[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1730 Introduced in House (IH)]

113th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1730

  To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to prohibit mobile service 
   providers from providing service on mobile devices that have been 
   reported stolen, to require such providers to give consumers the 
 ability to remotely delete data from mobile devices, to prohibit the 
alteration or removal of mobile device identification numbers, and for 
                            other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 25, 2013

 Mr. Engel (for himself and Ms. Norton) introduced the following bill; 
       which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to prohibit mobile service 
   providers from providing service on mobile devices that have been 
   reported stolen, to require such providers to give consumers the 
 ability to remotely delete data from mobile devices, to prohibit the 
alteration or removal of mobile device identification numbers, and for 
                            other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Cell Phone Theft Prevention Act of 
2013''.

SEC. 2. MOBILE DEVICE THEFT PREVENTION.

    (a) In General.--Part I of title III of the Communications Act of 
1934 (47 U.S.C. 301 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the 
following:

``SEC. 343. MOBILE DEVICE THEFT PREVENTION.

    ``(a) Provision of Service on Stolen Device.--
            ``(1) Prohibition.--A provider of commercial mobile service 
        or commercial mobile data service may not provide service on a 
        mobile device that has been reported to such provider as 
        stolen--
                    ``(A) by the person who holds the account with 
                respect to such service; or
                    ``(B) by another provider of commercial mobile 
                service or commercial mobile data service, in 
                accordance with paragraph (2).
            ``(2) Reporting by service providers.--A provider of 
        commercial mobile service or commercial mobile data service to 
        which a mobile device is reported stolen as described in 
        paragraph (1)(A) shall inform all other providers of such 
        service--
                    ``(A) that such device has been reported stolen; 
                and
                    ``(B) of any information necessary for the 
                identification of such device.
    ``(b) Remote Deletion of Data.--A provider of commercial mobile 
service or commercial mobile data service on a mobile device shall make 
available to the person who holds the account with respect to such 
service the capability of deleting from such device, from a remote 
location, all information that was placed on such device after its 
manufacture.
    ``(c) Device Standards.--A person may not manufacture in the United 
States or import into the United States for sale or resale to the 
public a mobile device unless such device is--
            ``(1) equipped with a mobile device identification number; 
        and
            ``(2) configured in such a manner that the provider of 
        commercial mobile service or commercial mobile data service on 
        the device is able to make available the remote deletion 
        capability required by subsection (b).
    ``(d) Alteration or Removal of Mobile Device Identification 
Number.--
            ``(1) Prohibition.--It shall be unlawful to--
                    ``(A) knowingly remove, obliterate, tamper with, or 
                alter a mobile device identification number; or
                    ``(B) knowingly use, produce, traffic in, have 
                control or custody of, or possess hardware or software, 
                knowing it has been configured to engage in the conduct 
                described in subparagraph (A).
            ``(2) Penalty.--Any person who violates paragraph (1) shall 
        be fined under title 18, United States Code, imprisoned not 
        more than 5 years, or both.
    ``(e) Definitions.--In this section:
            ``(1) Commercial mobile data service.--The term `commercial 
        mobile data service' has the meaning given such term in section 
        6001 of the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 
        2012 (47 U.S.C. 1401).
            ``(2) Commercial mobile service.--The term `commercial 
        mobile service' has the meaning given such term in section 332.
            ``(3) Mobile device.--The term `mobile device' means a 
        personal electronic device on which commercial mobile service 
        or commercial mobile data service is provided.
            ``(4) Mobile device identification number.--The term 
        `mobile device identification number' means an international 
        mobile equipment identity number, electronic serial number, or 
        any other number or signal that identifies a specific mobile 
        device.''.
    (b) Report to FCC.--Not later than 1 year after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, each provider of commercial mobile service or 
commercial mobile data service that provides such service on a mobile 
device shall submit to the Federal Communications Commission a report 
on--
            (1) the efforts such provider is making in order to be 
        prepared to comply, not later than the effective date described 
        in subsection (c)(1), with the requirements of subsections (a) 
        and (b) of section 343 of the Communications Act of 1934, as 
        added by subsection (a) of this section; and
            (2) the progress of such provider toward being prepared to 
        comply with such requirements by such date.
    (c) Effective Date.--
            (1) In general.--Such section 343 shall take effect on the 
        date that is 2 years after the date of the enactment of this 
        Act.
            (2) Devices previously manufactured or imported.--In the 
        case of a mobile device that was manufactured in the United 
        States (or imported into the United States, if such device was 
        manufactured outside the United States) before the date that is 
        2 years after the date of the enactment of this Act, a provider 
        of commercial mobile service or commercial mobile data service 
        shall only be required to comply with subsections (a) and (b) 
        of such section to the extent technologically feasible.
    (d) Definitions.--In this section, a term that is defined in such 
section 343 shall have the meaning given such term in such section.
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