[kictanet] KeBS to re-emburse fake phone owners

Tue Oct 2 19:58:37 EAT 2012

I think the strategy they are taking is in destroying the demand for the
IMEI-less phones. No demand no sales, no import. Flawed yes but how would
you go about it?

I do not think letting KEBS off the hook is a good
idea. Who's responsibility is it to ensure standards? If any KEBS inspector
walked to Luthuli undercover and bought several handsets that were found to
not be up to par then the institution has a mandate to confiscate and burn
the damned things the way they do it with fake cigarettes. They are liable
for the proliferation just like the border guys. Tell me why aren't
toyota side mirrors stolen in Uganda?

On Tue, Oct 2, 2012 at 5:35 PM, Chris Foster <cgfoster at gmail.com> wrote:

> Just to make a few points on this thread:
>
> First, for such phones it is pretty difficult for consumers to tell the
> difference between a real or fake.
>
> For example, buying a mobile from a street side shop in the likes of
> Luthuli Ave doesn't mean that it is illegal. Much stock from there is
> bought thorough the legal channels, also some of the Chinese brands are
> above board and even (as far as I understand) Dubai 'grey' market imports
> should still be functional. So I'm not sure how you would know, except of
> course if you buy a NokLa :-).....
>
> Second, is KEBS the real evil in this case?
>
> There's a huge amount of stuff which comes into the country without being
> stamped and approved, that is a fact of life and that will continue. It
> seems better to target the smaller number of large mobile
> importers/wholesales and set out a stall. Otherwise in a few months time
> disabling over million phones will be for nothing when the counterfeit
> firms start implanting fake IMEIs
>
> Thanks
> Chris
>
> --
> Christopher Foster
> PhD Researcher, Centre for Development Informatics (CDI)
> University of Manchester, UK
>
>
>
> On Tue, Oct 2, 2012 at 2:41 PM, Odhiambo Washington <odhiambo at gmail.com>wrote:
>
>> @Muraya,
>>
>> You appear to be distorting facts. I haven't seen any phone with a KeBS
>> certification. I'll check the phone boxes again today.
>>
>> Whenever a phone is upgraded, there is never an interference with the
>> IMEI, as it is stored in the NVRAM (I suppose that's the name) and is never
>> part of the OS partition else those of us who install unofficial ROMs on
>> these phones would have lost their IMEIs ages ago.
>>
>> You sure your phone isn't Smsung? :)
>>
>>
>>
>> On Tue, Oct 2, 2012 at 4:06 PM, S.M. Muraya <murigi.muraya at gmail.com>wrote:
>>
>>> My phone (with a safaricom line) is KeBS certified but has just been
>>> switched off.
>>>
>>> Checking the IMEI it is all 000000000....
>>>
>>> Also just remembered the OS was upgraded by a Samsung certified vendor -
>>> 2 years ago.
>>>
>>> Whatever they did, they probably never restored the IMEI while upgrading
>>> the OS.
>>>
>>> Off to a safaricom shop which will probably refer me to the Samsung
>>> Disti [?]
>>>
>>> On Tue, Oct 2, 2012 at 3:11 PM, John Gitau <jgitau at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>>  I'm not sure I understand where KEBS failed. Unless the phones being
>>>> switched off were actually certified by KEBS.
>>>>
>>>> What we need is proper consumer advocacy/education. For many many
>>>> things. The consumers should know where to buy proper phones, and maybe
>>>> some entity like cck should take on the task of educating us (which they
>>>> do), carriers should ensure the sim is registered and an IMEI registers but
>>>> they cant be expected to know which are fake/accurate either. in the end
>>>> the consumer will bear the burden, if only to serve as a lesson. Then
>>>> someone at our borders obviously fails us.
>>>>
>>>> jgitau
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
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>>>
>>>
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>>> sector in support of the national aim of ICT enabled growth and development.
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>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> Best regards,
>> Odhiambo WASHINGTON,
>> Nairobi,KE
>> +254733744121/+254722743223
>> _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
>> I can't hear you -- I'm using the scrambler.
>>
>>
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>>
>>
>> The Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) is a multi-stakeholder platform
>> for people and institutions interested and involved in ICT policy and
>> regulation. The network aims to act as a catalyst for reform in the ICT
>> sector in support of the national aim of ICT enabled growth and development.
>>
>> KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of acceptable behaviors
>> online that you follow in real life: respect people's times and bandwidth,
>> share knowledge, don't flame or abuse or personalize, respect privacy, do
>> not spam, do not market your wares or qualifications.
>>
>
>
>
> --
> Christopher Foster
> mob: 07751 537350 | skype: cgfoster
>
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>
> Unsubscribe or change your options at
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>
> The Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) is a multi-stakeholder platform
> for people and institutions interested and involved in ICT policy and
> regulation. The network aims to act as a catalyst for reform in the ICT
> sector in support of the national aim of ICT enabled growth and development.
>
> KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of acceptable behaviors
> online that you follow in real life: respect people's times and bandwidth,
> share knowledge, don't flame or abuse or personalize, respect privacy, do
> not spam, do not market your wares or qualifications.
>

-- 
Regards,

Mark Mwangi

markmwangi.me.ke
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