If you don’t know what RICA is, don’t worry, not very many people aside from the internet community actually knows about it. Have a look at http://www.vodacom.co.za/rica/index.jsp. Basically, it means you have to register your name, surname, ID number and home address to your cellphone number by the end of 2010, otherwise you will get disconnected.
Now there are already hundreds of posts and comments about how this is a totally unfeasible initiative, how it’s childish to think it would do anything to help fight crime, and how the idiot that thought it would be a good idea should be fired immediately, but I haven’t seen anybody make the most obvious argument against it yet, which is this:
There is no way for an operator to distinguish between a prepaid user living in a home with access to TV/newspapers/the internet and a prepaid user living in a shack in the middle of nowhere. FICA worked because it involves money, if you don’t have money you don’t have to worry about it. RICA on the other hand affects -all- people, and you can’t make arbitrary rules like “people in rural and informal settlements don’t have to comply” or “people in informal settlements can provide the address of the nearest school/church instead” (yes, RICA actually says that), because you physically can’t tell who is who.
Statement one: It is impossible to force at least one user on your network to register his address.
Statement two: One user is indistinguishable from another (All users are the same).
Conclusion: It is impossible to force any user on your network to register his address.
If you can’t get the people with no permanent home address to comply, and you cannot distinguish them from people with permanent residence, it is impossible to force anyone to comply. The only alternative is to disconnect -all- users. Let’s see how well that turns out if that happens…
The solution: Just don’t comply. You still have about 17 months anyway, so rather wait and see how it plays out.
4 comments ↓
Rica agent to call me at 0827508247, I am failing to get their contact numbers to assist in sim cards registration.
Good points.
One of the advantages plugged for cell phones was that they were a way for people with no fixced address to keep in touch. To have a landline you needed at least a semi-permanent address. Cell phones made it possible for anyone to communicate.
As you say, they might just as well ban cell phones altogether.
I was out of the country for a few months and lost my sim during the whole process. When I came back I decided to go buy a new sim card (I prefer to stick on prepaid) and they shunned me away because I have to have proof of residence by means of some sort of bill (or rental agreement).
I was shocked when they wouldn’t allow me to buy one. I don’t have a rental agreement, so it would take at least a month to get the proof they need.
At least we can still count on those indian corner shops. They sold me a sim card without any questions asked.
Any store will sell you a SIM without ID, that is not the problem. The problem is that all new SIMs need to be activated before you can use them. You need to take your ID and proof of residence into the store for them to register you. The indian shops probably still have old SIM stock that’s already active, but once they run out they will be in the same situation.
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