I 

112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4247 

To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to prohibit mobile service providers from providing service on mobile electronic devices that have 

been reported stolen and to require such providers to give consumers 

the ability to remotely delete data from mobile electronic devices, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 22, 2012 

Mr. ENGEL (for himself, Ms. NORTON, and Mr. NADLER) 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 

electronic devices that have been reported stolen and 

to require such providers to give consumers the ability 

to remotely delete data from mobile electronic devices, 

and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Cell Phone Theft Pre5 vention Act of 2012’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. STOLEN MOBILE ELECTRONIC DEVICES. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Part I of title III of the Commu3 nications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 301 et seq.) is amended 

4 by adding at the end the following: 

5 ‘‘SEC. 343. STOLEN MOBILE ELECTRONIC DEVICES. 

6 ‘‘(a) PROHIBITION ON PROVISION OF SERVICE.— 

7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A provider of commercial 

8 mobile service or commercial mobile data service 

9 may not provide service on a mobile electronic device 

10 that has been reported to such provider as stolen— 

11 ‘‘(A) by the person who holds the account 

12 with respect to such service, if such person sub13 mits to such provider a copy of a report made 

14 to a law enforcement agency regarding the 

15 theft; or 

16 ‘‘(B) by another provider of commercial 

17 mobile service or commercial mobile data serv18 ice, in accordance with paragraph (2). 

19 ‘‘(2) REPORTING BY SERVICE PROVIDERS.—A 

20 provider of commercial mobile service or commercial 

21 mobile data service to which a mobile electronic de22 vice is reported stolen as described in paragraph 

23 (1)(A) shall inform all other providers of such serv24 ice— 

25 ‘‘(A) that such device has been reported 

26 stolen; and 


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1 ‘‘(B) of any information necessary for the 

2 identification of such device. 

3 ‘‘(b) REMOTE DELETION OF DATA.—A provider of 

4 commercial mobile service or commercial mobile data serv5 ice on a mobile electronic device shall make available to 

6 the person who holds the account with respect to such 

7 service the capability of deleting from such device, from 

8 a remote location, all information that was placed on such 

9 device after its manufacture. 

10 ‘‘(c) DEVICE STANDARDS.—A person may not manu11 facture in the United States or import into the United 

12 States for sale or resale to the public a mobile electronic 

13 device unless such device is— 

14 ‘‘(1) equipped with a unique identifier (such as 

15 a Mobile Equipment Identifier) that allows a pro16 vider of commercial mobile service or commercial 

17 mobile data service to identify such device for pur18 poses of complying with subsections (a) and (b); and 

19 ‘‘(2) configured in such a manner that the pro20 vider of commercial mobile service or commercial 

21 mobile data service on the device is able to make 

22 available the remote deletion capability required by 

23 subsection (b). 

24 ‘‘(d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 


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1 ‘‘(1) COMMERCIAL MOBILE DATA SERVICE.— 

2 The term ‘commercial mobile data service’ has the 

3 meaning given such term in section 6001 of the Mid4 dle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012 

5 (Public Law 112–96). 

6 ‘‘(2) COMMERCIAL MOBILE SERVICE.—The term 

7 ‘commercial mobile service’ has the meaning given 

8 such term in section 332. 

9 ‘‘(3) MOBILE ELECTRONIC DEVICE.—The term 

10 ‘mobile electronic device’ means a personal electronic 

11 device on which commercial mobile service or com12 mercial mobile data service is provided, except that 

13 such term does not include a device— 

14 ‘‘(A) for which the consumer purchases 

15 service by paying in advance for a specified 

16 amount of calling or data usage; or 

17 ‘‘(B) with respect to which the consumer 

18 does not have a direct relationship with the pro19 vider of commercial mobile service or commer20 cial mobile data service.’’. 

21 (b) REPORT TO FCC.—Not later than 1 year after 

22 the date of the enactment of this Act, each provider of 

23 commercial mobile service or commercial mobile data serv24 ice that provides such service on a mobile electronic device 


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1 shall submit to the Federal Communications Commission 

2 a report on— 

3 (1) the efforts such provider is making in order 

4 to be prepared to comply, not later than the effective 

5 date described in subsection (c)(1), with the require6 ments of subsections (a) and (b) of section 343 of 

7 the Communications Act of 1934, as added by sub8 section (a) of this section; and 

9 (2) the progress of such provider toward being 

10 prepared to comply with such requirements by such 

11 date. 

12 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—Such section 343 shall take 

14 effect on the date that is 2 years after the date of 

15 the enactment of this Act. 

16 (2) DEVICES PREVIOUSLY MANUFACTURED OR

17 IMPORTED.—In the case of a mobile electronic device 

18 that was manufactured in the United States (or im19 ported into the United States, if such device was 

20 manufactured outside the United States) before the 

21 date that is 2 years after the date of the enactment 

22 of this Act, a provider of commercial mobile service 

23 or commercial mobile data service shall only be re24 quired to comply with subsections (a) and (b) of 

25 such section to the extent technologically feasible. 


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1 (d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section, a term that is de2 fined in such section 343 shall have the meaning given 

3 such term in such section. 

Æ 


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