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St. Louis Post-Dispatch Jim Gallagher And Joel Currier column [St. Louis Post-Dispatch :: ]
[April 18, 2014]

St. Louis Post-Dispatch Jim Gallagher And Joel Currier column [St. Louis Post-Dispatch :: ]


(St. Louis Post-Dispatch (MO) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) April 18--ST. LOUIS -- Paul Boken, whose daughter was murdered in St. Louis in 2012 for her iPhone 4s, says he and his family are grateful major cellphone makers have pledged to put "kill switches" in new smartphones next year to deter thefts and robberies.



But Boken also says the fight isn't over, and that his family will continue to push lawmakers to require technology in smartphones that would render them worthless to thieves.

"We're not convinced this is the end of this," Paul Boken said Thursday. "It's not just an intellectual problem. There are people being hurt by this." The electronic switch would let owners block the reuse of their phones and remove personal information, such as photos and emails. The phones can be turned back on if recovered by using a password or personal identification number.


Cellphones are taken in 30 to 40 percent of all robberies in big American cities, according to the Federal Communications Commission. Lost and stolen mobile devices -- mostly smartphones -- cost consumers more than $30 billion in 2012, the agency said in a study.

Megan Boken, 23, of Wheaton, Ill., a former St. Louis University volleyball player, was shot to death in the Central West End in August 2012 while in St. Louis for job interviews and to play in a reunion game.

Two St. Louis men, Keith V. Esters, now 20, and Johnathan Perkins, now 19, are in prison for the crime.

Boken had just parted from a friend after a walk in Forest Park when Esters spotted Boken at her car about 2:20 p.m. Aug. 18, at Maryland and Taylor avenues. He told his cousin, Perkins, to wait in their car. Esters approached, pointed a gun, announced a robbery, then shot her in the neck and chest when she resisted him.

At Esters' sentencing in November, he denied targeting Boken for her smartphone, saying he had just wanted to rob her.

The voluntary agreement announced this week includes both cellphone makers and phone companies. Included are Apple, Asurion, AT&T, Google, HTC America, Huawei Device USA; Motorola, Microsoft, Nokia, Samsung, Sprint, T-Mobile, U.S. Cellular and Verizon Wireless.

The deal takes effect with phones made after July 2015. It was announced Tuesday by the CTIA, the trade association for wireless phone companies.

California legislators introduced a bill this month that would require mobile devices sold in or shipped to the state be equipped with the anti-theft devices starting next year -- a move that could be the first of its kind in the United States. Similar legislation is being considered in New York, Illinois and Minnesota, and bills have been introduced in both houses of Congress.

Police chiefs and politicians have been calling for kill switches as a means to deter robbery. An Apple iPhone can bring as much as $200 on resale, providing a motive for mugging. The buyers could reactivate the phones through a wireless phone company. But in theory, there should be no market for blocked phones.

Apple Inc. included "activation lock" technology as part of its operating system for cellphones and other mobile devices.

The industry initially resisted the idea as too expensive and vulnerable to hackers targeting devices used by the Department of Defense, Homeland Security and other federal agencies.

Boken says he hopes lawmakers will pass legislation requiring smartphones to have the kill switch technology similar to Apple's and require users to choose -- when first activating their phones -- whether to opt out of the service.

"Megan was the inspiration to do something," he said. "It's because of Megan's memory that we pushed on this." The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Jim Gallagher and Joel Currier are reporters for the Post-Dispatch.

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