"Conventional cellphone records are tied to customer accounts that can be reviewed by law enforcement, while prepaid phones can simply be purchased off a store shelf with no registration requirements.
Law enforcement officials can trace ordinary cellphone numbers and learn critical information about the users, including who they called, who called them, where they called and where they called from. They can also use wiretaps to record cellphone conversations. Often, that information is used to build a case against a suspected criminal, Sills said.
"It's becoming more important than the ability to know what vehicle the individual has," he said. "There's constant communication on those things."
But prepaid cellphones —- which account for about 14 percent of the U.S. market —- can thwart the investigative process, Sills said. The phones appeal to many innocent users —- teenagers, people who lack stable credit, light users of mobile phone services and others looking to control their monthly bills. But would-be wrongdoers have also found them useful because they require no contracts and no registration. Prepaid phones come with a fixed amount of minutes. When the minutes are exhausted, users can either throw the phones away or buy more minutes.
When law enforcement officials find a prepaid cellphone during the investigation of a crime, there is no record of a phone number or an account to trace.
"We have no way of finding out whose phone it is," Sills said."
From the Atlanta Journal Constitiution.
http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/printe ... 0210a.html
I knew I read it somewhere
I am having a BABY boy.
He is due Sept. 14th
