CTIA praised the Rhode Island legislature’s decision to...

CTIA praised the Rhode Island legislature’s decision to not move ahead with bills that would have required smartphone manufacturers to install a kill switch rendering the devices useless should they be stolen or lost. Referring to the Smartphone Anti-Theft Voluntary Commitment (CD April 17 p10) made by manufacturers to preload or enable downloadable anti-theft software, Jamie Hastings, CTIA vice president-external and state affairs, said in a blog post (http://bit.ly/1jBwL0T) the voluntary pledge, “not legislation,” was the way to handle the issue. A spokesman for Sen. Dominick Ruggerio, sponsor of S-2897 (http://bit.ly/1kNnzmS), said the senator did not plan to ask for committee hearings after the companies made the pledge. Rep. Mary Duffy Messier, sponsor of H-8115 (http://bit.ly/1j44346), withdrew her bill from consideration on Tuesday. Messier was not available for comment on Wednesday.