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Ownership laws in cases of stolen goods are ridiculously complicated. In some cases in some juristictions, a bona fide purchaser can become the legal owner of

Ownership laws in cases of stolen goods are ridiculously complicated. In some cases in some juristictions, a bona fide purchaser can become the legal owner of stolen property (if they did not know it was stolen). The original owner can seek repayment from anyone involved in selling the item--even if they did not know it was stolen, or sold it after buying it--but sometimes they cannot take the item from the person who currently holds it. For example, if the victim has their kindle stolen by a thief, and the thief sells it to an electronics store that buys items, and the store sells it to a customer, then (depending on jurisdictions, ect..) the customer is the legal owner of the item. The victim can go after the thief for the market value of the item. Or they can go after the store if they can prove that it sold their item, even if the store didn't know that it was stolen. In this case, the victim no longer has legal claim to the kindle, and has no legal authority to authorize Amazon to do anything to it. With these complexities, and especially with items moving across jurisdictions, no manufacturer can ever be sure that the original owner is still the legal owner, and able to authorize bricking a device. The only option they have is to do nothing unless ordered by a court. Apple's phone home is different because it is performing an action that was initiated by the owner while they were the legal owner. It would be a different story if they actively took action against a device after it left the possession of the victim.

MichaelApproved 17y ago
How about just a black list? As the current legally connected owner of the phone you should be allowed to put your phone on a do not connect list BEFORE a new user connects it. With such a list in place the new owner, be it legal or illegal, can do nothing with the phone. If some jurisdiction allows the new owner to keep it then so be it but it'll just be a brick. In cases you state the victim won't be able to recover the phone but that's not the idea. The idea is to devalue a phone so it'll be worth far less thus making it less likely to be stolen.
- edmccaffrey 17y ago
  Do you mean that the original owner puts it on the list when they are still in physical possession of it? If that's so, then will they still be able to connect to it? If the person is blacklisting it only after they notice that it is missing, then it is too late. Under the aforementioned cirucmstances, it transfers ownership once it the bona fide customer buys it from someone, not once the bona fide customer tries to connect it. They could purchase it on eBay before the owner goes from thinking it is misplaced in their house to thinking it is stolen, and it becomes theirs as soon they pay, and then the victim blacklists a device that they no longer own while its still in transit. Even if the owner notices that it is gone before it is bought, they have no way of knowing if it has been sold yet, and neither does the manufacturer. The legal issues are just too nebulous for these types of things to work. The best that they can really do is keep track of what credit cards are used to activate phones or buy books on a Kindle, to trace it to the new legal owner, with a subpoena, who may be able to provide a lead to the thief or a reseller that the victim can go after for cash.

MichaelApproved 17y ago

How about just a black list? As the current legally connected owner of the phone you should be allowed to put your phone on a do not connect list BEFORE a new user connects it. With such a list in place the new owner, be it legal or illegal, can do nothing with the phone. If some jurisdiction allows the new owner to keep it then so be it but it'll just be a brick. In cases you state the victim won't be able to recover the phone but that's not the idea. The idea is to devalue a phone so it'll be worth far less thus making it less likely to be stolen.

edmccaffrey 17y ago
Do you mean that the original owner puts it on the list when they are still in physical possession of it? If that's so, then will they still be able to connect to it? If the person is blacklisting it only after they notice that it is missing, then it is too late. Under the aforementioned cirucmstances, it transfers ownership once it the bona fide customer buys it from someone, not once the bona fide customer tries to connect it. They could purchase it on eBay before the owner goes from thinking it is misplaced in their house to thinking it is stolen, and it becomes theirs as soon they pay, and then the victim blacklists a device that they no longer own while its still in transit. Even if the owner notices that it is gone before it is bought, they have no way of knowing if it has been sold yet, and neither does the manufacturer. The legal issues are just too nebulous for these types of things to work. The best that they can really do is keep track of what credit cards are used to activate phones or buy books on a Kindle, to trace it to the new legal owner, with a subpoena, who may be able to provide a lead to the thief or a reseller that the victim can go after for cash.