A California bill that would require smartphones to come equipped...

A California bill that would require smartphones to come equipped with theft-deterring kill switches passed the Assembly Business and Professions Committee on Tuesday. SB-962, approved by the Senate (CD May 9 p21) May 8, now moves to the Assembly Utilities and Commerce Committee, said a news release by the bill’s Senate sponsor, Sen. Mark Leno (D) (http://bit.ly/1njBALK). “Smartphone theft is one of the fastest-growing crimes in many cities across California, but it is also a preventable crime,” said Leno. The bill has been opposed by the wireless industry, which has pledged to voluntarily install kill switches in the phones and argues the bill’s mandate wouldn’t keep pace with rapidly changing technology. The measure is “neither necessary nor workable,” said Jamie Hastings, CTIA vice president-external and state affairs, in testimony to the committee Tuesday made available to us by the wireless association. Leno has said the pledge doesn’t go far enough because unlike his bill, the technology would have to be turned on or downloaded by the owner. “No one wants to steal a phone that won’t work,” said the bill’s Assembly sponsor, Democratic Assemblywoman Nancy Skinner, in the release from Leno’s office.