[HTC EVO 3D] ZachPA:
Would you care to quote the federal law that specifically says that it is legal to clone the ESN from a device that you own? I ask, because there is a law that says it is specifically illegal to clone an ESN:

18 USC § 1029 - FRAUD AND RELATED ACTIVITY IN CONNECTION WITH ACCESS DEVICES

(a)(9)Whoever knowingly uses, produces, traffics in, has control or custody of, or possesses hardware or software, knowing it has been configured to insert or modify telecommunication identifying information associated with or contained in a telecommunications instrument so that such instrument may be used to obtain telecommunications service without authorization;

(g)

(1) It is not a violation of subsection (a)(9) for an officer, employee, or agent of, or a person engaged in business with, a facilities-based carrier, to engage in conduct (other than trafficking) otherwise prohibited by that subsection for the purpose of protecting the property or legal rights of that carrier, unless such conduct is for the purpose of obtaining telecommunications service provided by another facilities-based carrier without the authorization of such carrier.

(2) In a prosecution for a violation of subsection (a)(9), (other than a violation consisting of producing or trafficking) it is an affirmative defense (which the defendant must establish by a preponderance of the evidence) that the conduct charged was engaged in for research or development in connection with a lawful purpose.

So, in layman's terms:

(a)(9): If you use software, hardware or any means at all to change the ESN on your device to a different number so that you are able to gain unauthorized access on a carrier's network, you are guilty of a crime.

(g)(1): If you are a person who might be authorized to change the ESN, you may do so provided you are not doing it because you want to use your device in an unauthorized manner on a different carrier's network.

(g)(2): If you change the ESN on your device and are then prosecuted under (a)(9), it is an affirmative defense that you were doing so for research only and the research was lawful.

And, delving even further:

If your goal is to change the ESN on your device, even if you own the device whose ESN will be donated, for purposes of gaining unauthorized entry onto another carrier's network, you are breaking the law.

Unauthorized use of another carrier's network is a pretty straightforward concept. If Virgin Mobile did say or is likely to say that your unmodified ESN is not allowed on their network, then changing your device's ESN to an ESN that you know is allowed on their network is a crime. By virtue of the fact that Virgin Mobile specifically allows only some ESNs on their network, they specifically disallow all other ESNs, thereby making any of the devices they are written to unauthorized.

The law goes even further to say that if you are normally a person who is allowed to change ESNs in order to safeguard a carrier's network, you are still not allowed to do it to gain access to another carrier's network.

And finally, if you are caught changing ESNs, and you are doing it for any purpose other than seeing if you can, you're in trouble. If you are doing it just to see if you can, you had better never used a cloned ESN on any network, ever.

Some might argue that this aspect of the law is unneeded since the advent of encrypted communications (the ESN cloning portion of the law was written when analog unencrypted service allowed snoopers to catch ESNs off the air and clone phones, thereby receiving free cell phone service).

I would tend to agree, though I would also point out that modern smartphones have the capability to do real damage to a carrier's network if the network isn't built to tolerate those smartphones' effects. An example might be the introduction of the iPhone and iPhone 3G onto AT&T's network. The network buckled under the pressure, and AT&T was caught off guard. Think of how off guard Sprint might have been if somehow those iPhones could have been cloned and use on Sprint's network. In other words, if I am Verizon and your latest smartphone is capable of 100 Mbps downloads and will kick everyone else off the LTE bands in your area, of course I don't want it on my network. If you change that phone's ESN to match the Thunderbolt, you are now operating without authorization on my network.

I see both sides. Using your own device on whichever network you choose should be a freedom you have. But that freedom would come at a price: carriers who have spent billions of dollars building their networks are exposed to unknown variables that might result in lost productivity for everyone (including emergency responders). The law should probably stay the way it is.