This technology already exists in Britain (I don't know about any other countries), where you can buy a mobile without any subscription information off the shelf. To use the mobile, you go and purchase a 'token' which allows you to use the mobile on a pay-per-call basis much the same as a public phone. I don't know the method of token implementation.
The police have started kicking up a fuss over this technology as they claim it hinders their investigation into criminal activity, because if they trace a cellular phone which turns out to be one of this type then they can't pull the info on the customer to go round knocking on doors.
As usual, some of the important questions are scale, threat model, and economics. If you're in the Retail Pharmaceuticals business, trying to solve the problem for yourself and a few of your best customers, it's much simpler than solving the problem for The Masses. Steal some cellphones, or steal some credit cards and buy some cellphones, or hire a street person to rent a cell phone for you. If the cops know they're looking for cellphone 202-654-3210, they can call you, but they don't know who you are, and even direction finders may only tell them that the holder of that phone is somebody walking down Pennsylvania Ave. On the other hand, if the cops are looking for _you_, they may not have your phone number. The Cheesebox story was quite nice, and would work better today, with automated PBXs available - it would have worked even better 10 years ago, when PBX hacking was easier. Another small-scale solution is to use ham radio repeaters with phone patches, assuming they're still widely available. Tracing it tells the cops they need to go find an FCC RDF truck to drive around South Silicon Valley looking for someone with a pocket-sized 2m or 70cm handheld radio who doesn't talk more than 1 minute at a time, or maybe just listens. If they catch you, you could be in Big Big Trouble for using a ham radio without a license! Another part of the scale is that not only is tracing a lot of work, as others have pointed out, but not everybody goes taunting Tsutomo and continually reminding everybody that they haven't yet caught him, the way Dread Pirate Mitnick allegedly did. If you're just Yet Another Pot Dealer, the FBI, NSA and FCC will probably tell your local police that a 75-gram dope deal is less important that Cliff Stoll's 75-cent accounting difference. On the other hand, maintaining a professional level of paranoia all the time while doing business for a few years is more than most FBI Targets are willing to bother doing. Thanks! Bill Bill Stewart, bill.stewart@pobox.com PGP Fingerprint D454 E202 CBC8 40BF 3C85 B884 0ABE 4639