At 00:03 21-07-2013, Andrew Allen wrote:
The reason why the IMEI namespace is being registered as a GSMA
namespace and not as part of the 3GPP namespace is that the GSMA has
the responsibility for IMEI assignment and hence in maintaining
uniqueness of the namespace. It has nothing to do with IPR which was
extensively discussed on the dispatch list.
I read the dispatch mailing list. I did not see the extensive
discussion. I saw the following comment "Surely that is just trying
to turn the IETF into the policeman".
The primary purpose of the IMEI is for preventing use of stolen
mobile phones and enabling emergency calls to be made from mobiles
that don't have a valid subscription.
From what I read the main purpose of the IMEI is to be able to take
measures against stolen phones and against equipment which the use
cannot be accepted for technical or safety reasons. The secondary
purpose is the tracing of malicious calls.
There is an apps which sends the IMEI in a
cryptographically-protected form over the network. For what it is
worth, it's MD5.
There has been some work in the IETF on emergency calls (see service URN).
At 00:12 21-07-2013, Andrew Allen wrote:
As John pointed out having the sub namespace reviewed by IETF
provides the opportunity to add text to address privacy concerns
with any inappropriate usage.
I don't think that it is the role of the IETF to determine whether
the usage of a sub-namespace is appropriate or not as it can cause
namespace management issues.
I tried the explain the subtlety between privacy concerns and privacy
considerations. The IMEI can also be used as a customer identifier.
Regards,
S. Moonesamy