ESN Cloning is illegal!!

**whitey10tc** · 05-12-2010, 12:31 AM

CLONING CELLULAR TELEPHONES

IN GENERAL

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I must say that I do not condone cloning personally, nor does CDMA Gurus. Members please be advised that discussion out right instructions can not be tolerated here. If anyone remembers the old post from the original m-f.com the words repair and donor were used, there were no mention of cl**in* or what networks they were on.

For anyone who might feel that I am wrong feel free to let me know. Both the government and carriers are always watching forums. So please respect forum rules and don't discuss cl**in* and don't do anything that will cause hell for gurus.

**Killgorian** · 05-12-2010, 01:56 PM

I agree 100%. Its a stupid thing to do. I believe the penalty is 10 years and/or $10,000 fines. Its a federal violation and really has no place on forums like this.

**RIP MOBILE-FILES** · 05-12-2010, 02:06 PM

(says with a serious face) i will like to add that infractions will be given to anyone who uses the wrong terminology so consider this a warning!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

**Killgorian** · 05-12-2010, 02:54 PM

Whitey, delete me if Im changing the topic, but does anyone know the legalities of esn repair?

**Mr._Pseudonym** · 05-12-2010, 05:03 PM

:^/ Fixing an accidentally corrupted ESN (repair) should be okay. Altering the ESN on one handset to match another so that hubby and wife can share the same account is stealing service, and thus illegal. The original MobileFiles.com had how-to threads for ESN repair, but they're shut down now. There's no way for us to know whether there was any connection....

**whitey10tc** · 05-12-2010, 05:23 PM

Originally Posted by Mr._Pseudonym

:^/ Fixing an accidentally corrupted ESN (repair) should be okay. Altering the ESN on one handset to match another so that hubby and wife can share the same account is stealing service, and thus illegal. The original MobileFiles.com had how-to threads for ESN repair, but they're shut down now. There's no way for us to know whether there was any connection....

Mainly I threw this post up because I had a PM by a Zero post user that wanted help cloning a device from one carrier to another that he had an account with but didn't carry that device. He had seen another user that was posting in the HTC thread about how he cloned an Eris (Verizon) with a Sprint Q9 ESN to work on Sprint. Those posts have been deleted now.
But there is where cloning will get you in trouble.
1. To have 2 devices with the same phone number.
2. To steal Identity's of others.
3. Theft of service.
4. Telecommunication fraud.
and the list goes on.

Times that it is legal are very thin.
ESN Repair is one case. But that is not cloning. Because you are simply writing the same ESN back to the device not an ESN from another device.