II 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3427 

To institute an identification requirement for the purchase of pre-paid mobile 

devices. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 26, 2010 

Mr. SCHUMER (for himself and Mr. CORNYN) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, 

Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To institute an identification requirement for the purchase 

of pre-paid mobile devices. 

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 ‘‘Pre-Paid Mobile De5 vice Identification Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 As used in this Act— 

8 (1) the term ‘‘authorized reseller’’ means any 

9 person authorized by a— 


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1 (A) manufacturer to sell the manufactur2 er’s mobile devices or SIM cards; or 

3 (B) wireless carrier to sell pre-paid mobile 

4 devices or SIM cards to which the wireless car5 rier will provide wireless cellular service; 

6 (2) the term ‘‘pre-paid mobile device’’ means 

7 any cellular phone or similar wireless communication 

8 device for which the mobile device user purchases a 

9 set allotment of wireless communication service; 

10 (3) the term ‘‘SIM card’’ means a subscriber 

11 identity module or functionally equivalent data stor12 age device; and 

13 (4) the term ‘‘wireless carrier’’ has the same 

14 meaning as in section 6(4) of the Wireless Commu15 nications and Public Safety Act of 1999 (47 U.S.C. 

16 615b(4)). 

17 SEC. 3. IDENTIFICATION REQUIREMENT. 

18 Prior to the completion of any sale of a pre-paid mo19 bile device or SIM card to a purchaser, an authorized re20 seller shall require the purchaser to provide the following 

21 information: 

22 (1) The full name of the purchaser. 

23 (2) The complete home address of the pur24 chaser. 

25 (3) The date of birth of the purchaser. 


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1 SEC. 4. IDENTIFICATION VERIFICATION. 

2 (a) IN PERSON SALES.—An authorized reseller mak3 ing a sale to a purchaser in person shall verify the pur4 chaser information provided under section 3 by requiring 

5 the purchaser to display— 

6 (1) a photographic identification card issued by 

7 a Federal or State government, or a document con8 sidered acceptable for purposes of subparagraphs 

9 (B), (C), or (D) of section 274A(b)(1) of the Immi10 gration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1324a(b)(1)); 

11 or 

12 (2) any 2 of the following documents: 

13 (A) A Form W–2 Wage and Tax State14 ment received from the Internal Revenue Serv15 ice, provided that such form has been received 

16 from the Internal Revenue Service within the 

17 prior 18 months. 

18 (B) A Form 1099 Social Security Benefit 

19 Statement received from the Social Security 

20 Administration, provided that such form has 

21 been received from the Social Security Adminis22 tration within the prior 18 months. 

23 (C) A Form 1099 received from any other 

24 agency of the Federal Government other than 

25 the Social Security Administration, including 

26 the Internal Revenue Service, provided that 


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1 such form has been received within the prior 18 

2 months. 

3 (D) Any document containing personal 

4 identifying information that the Attorney Gen5 eral finds, by regulation, to be acceptable for 

6 purposes of this section. 

7 (b) OTHER SALES.—An authorized reseller making 

8 a sale to a purchaser not in person shall verify the pur9 chaser information provided under section 3 by requiring 

10 the purchaser to submit the following information: 

11 (1) Valid credit or debit card account informa12 tion. 

13 (2) Social Security number. 

14 (3) Driver’s license number. 

15 (4) Any other personal identifying information 

16 that the Attorney General finds, by regulation, to be 

17 necessary for purposes of this section. 

18 SEC. 5. RECORD MAKING REQUIREMENT. 

19 Upon completion of a sale of a pre-paid mobile device 

20 or SIM card, an authorized reseller shall make a record 

21 of the sale that includes the following information: 

22 (1) The information obtained from the pur23 chaser under section 3, and, if applicable, the infor24 mation submitted by the purchaser under subsection 

25 (b) of section 4. 


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1 (2) The date of sale. 

2 (3) The manufacturer of the pre-paid mobile 

3 device or SIM card. 

4 (4) The wireless carrier that will provide wire5 less communication service to the pre-paid mobile 

6 device or SIM card. 

7 (5) Any assigned telephone number or other 

8 subscriber or account identifier known at the time of 

9 purchase. 

10 (6) Any of the following, if applicable to the 

11 pre-paid mobile device or SIM card: 

12 (A) International mobile equipment identi13 fier number. 

14 (B) Electronic serial number. 

15 (C) Mobile equipment identifier. 

16 (D) International mobile subscriber identi17 fier. 

18 (E) Machine address code. 

19 SEC. 6. RECORD TRANSMISSION REQUIREMENT. 

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 30 days after the 

21 sale of a pre-paid mobile device or SIM card, an author22 ized reseller shall transmit the record of the sale made 

23 in accordance with section 5 to the wireless carrier that 

24 will provide wireless communication service to the pre-paid 

25 mobile device or SIM card. 


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1 (b) PERMISSIBLE MEANS OF TRANSMISSION.—In 

2 complying with the requirements of subsection (a), an au3 thorized reseller may transmit the sale record to the wire4 less carrier by means of secure electronic transmission. 

5 SEC. 7. RECORDKEEPING REQUIREMENT. 

6 After an authorized reseller has transmitted the sale 

7 record to the wireless carrier in accordance with section 

8 6, a wireless carrier shall— 

9 (1) provide a transmission confirmation receipt 

10 to the authorized reseller, after the receipt of which 

11 the authorized reseller shall dispose promptly of any 

12 retained copy of the record; and 

13 (2) retain the transmitted sale record in accord14 ance with the privacy protections of section 222 of 

15 the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 222) 

16 for a period of 18 months or until the wireless car17 rier stops or otherwise discontinues providing service 

18 to the pre-paid mobile device or SIM card to which 

19 the sale record relates. 

20 SEC. 8. PENALTIES. 

21 (a) FOR FALSE OR MISLEADING STATEMENTS.—A 

22 purchaser who provides false or misleading information 

23 when providing the identifying information and documents 

24 required under sections 3 and 4 shall be subject to crimiVerDate Mar 15 2010 00:04 May 27, 2010 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3427.IS S3427

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1 nal penalties under section 1001 of title 18, United States 

2 Code. 

3 (b) FAILURE TO COMPLY.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—An authorized reseller or 

5 wireless carrier who fails to comply with the require6 ments of this Act shall be subject to a civil fine of 

7 $50 per offense. 

8 (2) SEPARATE OFFENSE.—Each separate sale 

9 of a pre-paid mobile device or SIM card for which 

10 purchaser identification is not requested or verified 

11 in accordance with sections 3 and 4, or for which the 

12 required record is not made or maintained in accord13 ance with sections 5 or 7, shall constitute a separate 

14 offense. 

15 (3) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—For purposes of 

16 this section— 

17 (A) a wireless carrier is not responsible for 

18 an offense of an authorized reseller; and 

19 (B) an authorized reseller is not respon20 sible for an offense of a wireless carrier. 

21 SEC. 9. RELATED OFFENSES. 

22 (a) SALE BY NONAUTHORIZED RESELLERS.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—It shall be unlawful for any 

24 person who is not an authorized reseller to sell pre25 paid mobile devices or SIM cards. 


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1 (2) PENALTY.—Any person that violates the 

2 prohibition set forth under paragraph (1) shall be 

3 fined not more than $500, imprisoned for not less 

4 than 1 year, or both. 

5 (3) NOTICE.—The Attorney General shall es6 tablish regulations requiring manufacturers and au7 thorized resellers to notify purchasers of mobile de8 vices and SIM cards of the offense and penalty es9 tablished by this section. 

10 (b) COMMISSION OF OTHER CRIMES.—If a person 

11 uses a pre-paid mobile device or SIM card obtained in vio12 lation of this Act to commit a Federal criminal offense, 

13 the minimum term of imprisonment for such offense that 

14 is required under Federal statute shall be increased by 1 

15 year. 

16 SEC. 10. PREEMPTION DISCLAIMER. 

17 Nothing in this Act is intended to preempt or other18 wise prevent or prohibit any State of the power to enact 

19 additional requirements with respect to the distribution 

20 and sale of mobile devices or SIM cards. 

Æ 


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