I 
114TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 5834 
To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to prohibit mobile service pro-
viders from providing service on smart phones that have been reported 
stolen, to require smart phones to be equipped with anti-theft 
functionality and mobile device identification numbers, and to prohibit 
the alteration or removal of mobile device identification numbers of 
smart phones, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 14, 2016 
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 mo-
bile service providers from providing service on smart 
phones that have been reported stolen, to require smart 
phones to be equipped with anti-theft functionality and 
mobile device identification numbers, and to prohibit the 
alteration or removal of mobile device identification num-
bers of smart phones, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Cell Phone Theft Pre-
vention Act of 2016’’. 
SEC. 2. SMART PHONE THEFT PREVENTION. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Part I of title III of the Commu-
nications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 301 et seq.) is amended 
by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘SEC. 343. SMART PHONE THEFT PREVENTION. 
‘‘(a) PROVISION
OF SERVICE
ON STOLEN SMART 
PHONE.— 
‘‘(1) PROHIBITION.—A provider of commercial 
mobile service or commercial mobile data service 
may not knowingly provide service on a smart phone 
that— 
‘‘(A) has been reported to such provider as 
stolen by an authorized user of such phone; or 
‘‘(B) is listed as stolen on the Central 
Equipment Identity Register. 
‘‘(2) REPORTING BY SERVICE PROVIDERS.—A 
provider of commercial mobile service or commercial 
mobile data service to which a smart phone is re-
ported stolen by an authorized user of such phone 
as described in paragraph (1)(A) shall transmit to 
the Central Equipment Identity Register a notifica-
tion that such phone has been reported stolen. Such 
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notification shall include such information as is re-
quired for the identification of such phone. 
‘‘(b) ANTI-THEFT FUNCTIONALITY; MOBILE DEVICE 
IDENTIFICATION NUMBERS.—A person may not manufac-
ture for retail sale in the United States, or import into 
the United States for retail sale in the United States, a 
smart phone unless such phone is— 
‘‘(1) 
equipped 
with 
pre-loaded 
anti-theft 
functionality at no additional cost to purchasers of 
such phone, or capable of downloading anti-theft 
functionality that is available at no additional cost 
to purchasers of such phone; and 
‘‘(2) equipped with a mobile device identifica-
tion number. 
‘‘(c) ALTERATION OR REMOVAL OF MOBILE DEVICE 
IDENTIFICATION NUMBER; PROHIBITION
OF SALE
OF 
STOLEN SMART PHONES.— 
‘‘(1) PROHIBITION.—It shall be unlawful to— 
‘‘(A) knowingly remove, obliterate, tamper 
with, or alter the mobile device identification 
number of a smart phone; 
‘‘(B) knowingly use, produce, traffic in, 
have control or custody of, or possess hardware 
or software, knowing it has been configured to 
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engage in the conduct described in subpara-
graph (A); or 
‘‘(C) knowingly sell a smart phone for 
which the mobile device identification number is 
listed as stolen on the Central Equipment Iden-
tity Register. 
‘‘(2) PENALTY.—Any person who violates para-
graph (1) shall be fined under title 18, United 
States Code, imprisoned not more than 5 years, or 
both. 
‘‘(d) RULES OF CONSTRUCTION.— 
‘‘(1) ADDITIONAL
TECHNOLOGIES
OR
SERV-
ICES.—Nothing in this section prohibits a provider 
of commercial mobile service or commercial mobile 
data service, device manufacturer, or operating sys-
tem provider from offering a technology or service in 
addition to the anti-theft functionality required by 
subsection (b)(1). 
‘‘(2) EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS.—Nothing 
in this section requires the use of a technology that 
is incompatible with, or renders it impossible to com-
ply with, Federal or State law with regard to— 
‘‘(A) the provision of emergency services 
through the 9–1–1 system, including text-to-9– 
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1–1, bounce-back messages, and location accu-
racy requirements; 
‘‘(B) participation in the Wireless Emer-
gency Alerts system; or 
‘‘(C) participation in other Federal, State, 
or local emergency alert and public safety warn-
ing systems. 
‘‘(3) NO PRIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION.—Nothing 
in this section shall be construed to authorize any 
private right of action to enforce any requirement of 
this section or any regulation promulgated under 
this section. 
‘‘(e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
‘‘(1) ANTI-THEFT FUNCTIONALITY.—The term 
‘anti-theft functionality’ means, with respect to a 
smart phone, a functionality provided by the manu-
facturer or operating system provider that— 
‘‘(A) once downloaded to the phone and 
initiated— 
‘‘(i) has the capability, from a remote 
location— 
‘‘(I) to render the essential fea-
tures of the phone inoperable to a per-
son who is not an authorized user; 
and 
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‘‘(II) to delete from the phone 
the personal information of the au-
thorized users, except for any infor-
mation necessary to permit the capa-
bility described in subclause (I) to be 
reversed as required by clause (ii); 
and 
‘‘(ii) permits the capability described 
in clause (i)(I) to be reversed if an author-
ized user of the phone obtains possession 
of the phone after the essential features of 
the phone have been rendered inoperable 
by such capability; and 
‘‘(B) may be designed so as to allow an au-
thorized user to opt out of implementing the ca-
pability described in subparagraph (A)(i). 
‘‘(2) AUTHORIZED
USER.—The term ‘author-
ized user’ means, with respect to a smart phone— 
‘‘(A) the person who holds the commercial 
mobile service or commercial mobile data serv-
ice account for the phone; 
‘‘(B) if the phone is a phone for which par-
ticular amounts of service are purchased in ad-
vance, the person who owns the phone; or 
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‘‘(C) any person who has been authorized 
by a person described in subparagraph (A) or 
(B) to use the phone. 
‘‘(3) CENTRAL
EQUIPMENT
IDENTITY
REG-
ISTER.—The term ‘Central Equipment Identity Reg-
ister’ means the list of mobile device identification 
numbers that are associated with mobile devices that 
have been reported as lost, stolen, faulty, or other-
wise unsuitable for use, and that is a part of the 
International Mobile Equipment Identity Database 
maintained by the GSM Association, or any equiva-
lent or successor registry or database. 
‘‘(4) COMMERCIAL
MOBILE
DATA
SERVICE.— 
The term ‘commercial mobile data service’ has the 
meaning given such term in section 6001 of the Mid-
dle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012 
(47 U.S.C. 1401). 
‘‘(5) COMMERCIAL MOBILE SERVICE.—The term 
‘commercial mobile service’ has the meaning given 
such term in section 332. 
‘‘(6) ESSENTIAL FEATURES.—The term ‘essen-
tial features’ means, with respect to a smart phone, 
features that provide the capability for a user to use 
the phone for voice communications, text messaging, 
Internet browsing, and accessing and using software 
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applications. Such term does not include the features 
that provide the capability to operate the anti-theft 
functionality or to use the phone for emergency com-
munications. 
‘‘(7) MOBILE
DEVICE
IDENTIFICATION
NUM-
BER.—The term ‘mobile device identification num-
ber’ means an international mobile equipment iden-
tity number, a mobile equipment identifier, an elec-
tronic serial number, or any other number or signal 
that identifies a specific mobile device and has the 
same function and purposes as an international mo-
bile equipment identity number or a mobile equip-
ment identifier. 
‘‘(8) SMART PHONE.— 
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—The term ‘smart 
phone’ means a hand-held mobile device that— 
‘‘(i) possesses advanced computing ca-
pability; 
‘‘(ii) is designed to enable the user to 
engage in voice communications using com-
mercial mobile service; 
‘‘(iii) is capable of operating on a 
long-term evolution network or successor 
wireless 
data 
network 
communication 
standards; and 
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‘‘(iv) may possess capabilities that in-
clude built-in applications, Internet access, 
Internet browsing, digital voice service, 
text messaging, and e-mail. 
‘‘(B) EXCLUSIONS.—Such term does not 
include a phone that offers only a limited capa-
bility or set of capabilities (such as placing 
voice calls and sending text messages), a laptop 
computer, a tablet device, or a device that has 
only electronic reading capability.’’. 
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para-
graph (2), section 343 of the Communications Act 
of 1934, as added by subsection (a) of this section, 
shall apply beginning on the date that is 2 years 
after the date of the enactment of this Act. 
(2) ANTI-THEFT FUNCTIONALITY; MOBILE DE-
VICE IDENTIFICATION NUMBERS.—Subsection (b) of 
such section 343 shall apply with respect to a smart 
phone that is manufactured on or after the date that 
is 2 years after the date of the enactment of this 
Act. 
Æ 
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