Pyra may be illegal in Minnesota?

[Silent-Hunter]

I read that all mobile devices sold or purchased in Minnesota on or after July 1st 2015 must be fitted with theft locking software, or be capable of downloading it. Will the Pyra have an anti-theft locking program? If not, will that make it illegal to buy one if you live in Minnesota?

Source: http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-27423519

 

[edgex004]

MInneapolis, MN resident here. I am not afraid. I think.

 

[Silent-Hunter]

Upon further investigation of the law, it says that only devices containing a 'mobile OS' would be covered under said law. Debian is not a mobile OS, so I think it's fine too.

 

[TrashyMG]

In some states it's illegal to tie giraffes to telephone/light poles too. 

This type of law can't be easily enforced, especially with online sales..

 

[WizardStan]

It looks like it may only apply to smart phones and devices with cellular network connections. At the worst it would mean ED couldn't sell the 3G version to anyone in MN, unless someone comes up with some kind of pre-installed remote wipe software, as required.

All told, this seems like the wrong place for the government to get involved. There's a difference between mandating that something must have software vs mandating that it must ALLOW such software. The Pyra would easily pass the latter but I don't think it can ever match the former.

 

[levi]

I assume the government's getting involved because of reports that iPhone theft has gone down in various places since it started coming with remote wipe/lock software.  I'm not sure how you could effectively lock a device like a Pyra though, when you can always just reflash it.

 

[Silent-Hunter]

As I said, only things with a smartphone OS are required by law to support it. Debian is not a smartphone OS.

 

[edgex004]

Even if Android is ported; remote wipe and lock is available.

 

[Silent-Hunter]

Even if Android is ported; remote wipe and lock is available.

Right.

 

[fahrstuhl]

There is prey for Linux, so the Pyra is at least capable of downloading theft locking software.

I'm not sure how you could effectively lock a device like a Pyra though, when you can always just reflash it.

Isn't that true for basically every Android device?

And your personal data can be compromised anyway if it's not encrypted.

(Edit: And even then you'd need to erase the decryption keys from RAM if it's stolen. I don't know if you can recover the keys from the RAM of a screenlocked Pyra directly (like a DMA attack via Firewire), but you could also try to circumvent any locking mechanism.)

 

[WizardStan]

Debian is not a smartphone OS

Define "smartphone OS". If Debian is run on a smartphone, does that not make it an OS for a smartphone and therefore a smartphone OS? "built on a smart phone mobile operating system" is disturbingly ambiguous and could definitely include Debian.

 

[WizardStan]

Oh wait, yeah, no problems. Regardless of whether Debian running on a mobile device can be considered a mobile operating system, the bill says

Any new smart phone manufactured on or after July 1, 2015, sold or purchased in Minnesota must be equipped with preloaded antitheft functionality or be capable of downloading that functionality. The functionality must be available to purchasers at no cost.

The Pyra doesn't prevent you from doing anything you want, including installing lockout software. Like Fahrstuhl mentions, Prey is open source, if needed someone just compiles it and shoves it on the repo, easy peasy.

 

[levi]

But how would software lock you out of a Pyra when as I mentioned previously, you can always just reflash it?  Remote wipe software still has validity, but I don't see the point of crippling the replaceable OS.

 

[Silent-Hunter]

Debian is not a smartphone OS

Define "smartphone OS". If Debian is run on a smartphone, does that not make it an OS for a smartphone and therefore a smartphone OS? "built on a smart phone mobile operating system" is disturbingly ambiguous and could definitely include Debian.

I believe the language in the law means an OS specifically designed as a mobile OS. Which Debian is not.

 

[WizardStan]

I believe the language in the law means an OS specifically designed as a mobile OS.

Belief is not a definition. The language is ambiguous about what a mobile OS is, but not about the intention of the bill, and under the intentions the Pyra would definitely qualify.

 

[Yoyobuae]

Is there even someone would chase down ED or some other shop for selling Pyras on MN without anti-theft software being available?

I believe the language in the law means an OS specifically designed as a mobile OS. Which Debian is not.

I'm sure a lawyer could find multiple ways around such things. Question is whether someone would be willing to pay a lawyer to do it?

If there's a high risk of that happening, then it might be better to avoid selling Pyras on MN. But if the risk is small or non-existant then simply ignore the laws and sell it anyway.

 

[WizardStan]

But how would software lock you out of a Pyra when as I mentioned previously, you can always just reflash it?

I was under the impression that it didn't need a permanent lock out, just a wipe was sufficient to comply, but then I got to the report on the "kill switch" requirements:

Any smart phone sold or purchased in Minnesota must be equipped with functionality that can render the device completely inoperable in the event of theft or loss.

Complete inoperable is a problem and not something we want to touch.On the other hand, it is possible to "brick" the Pandora. The power chip has registers which control what turns it on: power switch, clock, AC, USB, battery; just set them all to off, effectively bricking the Pandora. If the Pyra's power control chip has a similar feature it wouldn't be too hard to implement as well.

 

[Silent-Hunter]

I'm not sure they could stop someone ordering something from another country though. Even if it did technically break their law.

 

[Hồng Thất Công]

Put a small smart nuclear bomb in the Pyra so it will automatically explode into intraceable pieces.


That is a stupid law.

 

[Granitehead]

"If a phone is turned off or put into aeroplane mode, it might not receive the kill signal at all, warn experts"

:-D

(in the box at the right of the article)