Give iPod Thieves an Unchargeable Brick

Svippy writes "Apple has patented a technology for new generations of iPods that would detect when a user tries to operate the iPod on an unauthorised machine ... and will refuse to charge. Indefinitely. From the article: 'Every portable gadget with a rechargeable battery has a charging circuit that recognises when the external mains charger has been plugged in. It then manages the transfer of current to the battery. Apple's patent suggests that by attaching a "guardian circuit" to the charging circuit, it would be possible to block the charging process. When a device is plugged into an unauthorised computer, software would compare a security code in the device to a code buried in the software in the computer. Apple already employs a similar technology to "pair" iPods to iTunes running on a specific Mac or PC. If the codes do not match, then the guardian circuit could be triggered to prevent any further charging.'"

False positives

[sleekware (1109351)]

I can imagine this will raise a lot of false positives. It reminds me of Windows Genuine Advantage, only nastier...

Re:

[Anonymous Coward]

Why would you need "authorization" just to charge your iPod on any box, I wonder.

opt-in future proof protection

[goombah99 (560566)]

Why would you need "authorization" just to charge your iPod on any box, I wonder.

I can think of multile ways this could be implemented.
option 1) the ipod requires you to enter a password to charge or access it on a "foreign" computer. Not sure why charging matters here however.

option 2) the ipod simply won't charge on a foreign computer IF you opt-in to that feature. One would make that default off. But if enough people used that aspect, it might become a theft deterrent. plus it's something that could be enabled later on, even if there's no great ipod crime wave right now, and thu

Re:

[LiquidCoooled (634315)]

If they *did* think about implementing this on all pods then it would be unusable by me legally from my car or my homemade battery pack.

I could only imagine it working only if you try working directly with an iTunes aware computer.
If you connect it to an in-car charger there is no iTunes running from the car battery, so no comparison is possible at all.

Developed right it wouldn't be a big deal and really could work.

Re:False positives

[arth1 (260657)]

This isn't about preventing stolen iPods from being able to charge. That's an incredibly fat lie.

This is about making sure that people who buy a second charger have to buy it from Apple, at inflated prices.

Re:False positives

[Hijacked Public (999535)]

You might want to update your conspiracy theory: Apple doesn't include the first charger either.

Re:False positives

[jcuervo (715139)]

why the hell would you have 5 ipods?

Beowulf minicluster?

Re:

[hey! (33014)]

Well sorta. But how well it works makes a big difference, doesn't it?

They've already got this in place to protect DRM'd music bought through the iTunes store, and as far as I can see it works perfectly well. You don't have to run around finding any little faux-stock-certificates, you don't have to call up an Apple representative and provide a justification for what you are doing. The Apple system is simple, permissive, and reasonably fool proof provided you have an email account that you can rely upon.

False patent

[pegr (46683)]

Patent? Prior art. Heck, my Verizon Razr has been doing this since day one. I have to load a special driver to get it to charge from my laptop's USB port. Without it, the screen just says "Unauthorized Charger"... It rejects any charger it didn't come with, even other Motorola chargers. Forget 3rd party devices. Bastards...

Oh, yeah, Apple, um, good luck with that...

Re:

[digitalchinky (650880)]

On my Asian side of the pond, few people have the first clue what an IMEI is, and for the most part they don't need to. People are not generally aware they can have their phones blacklisted in the event of theft, rarely will they go to the police, and even rarer still is the chance they might ever get their phone back. Modern handsets usually require swapping an IC off the board with one from an identical (and unlocked) phone to change the IMEI, it's not quite so easy as taking it to one of the 8 million ma

Re:

[donaldm (919619)]

If this is designed to stop thieves then it is a poor way of doing it since it is going to inconvenience legitimate purchasers. Basically a thief will steal the ipod and sell it to some sucker in the pub rather than keep it. If you use the IMEI code in a mobile as an analogy it is actually possible to change the number (try using Google with "imei unlock" - you will get over a million hits) however the average thief does not have the facilities to do this so he will sell the mobile as soon as possible.

Wh

Re:

[Dephex Twin (416238)]

I like how you mention the Zune like that's going to make Apple jealous. "I can't believe you'd go out with that slut!"

Bricks anyone?

[Applekid (993327)]

Give iPod Thieves an Unchargeable Brick

Can't I just keep the ipod and give them a brick painted as an iPod like the P-P-P-Powerbook [zug.com] instead?

Re:Bricks anyone?

[DF5JT (589002)]

> Can't I just keep the ipod and give them a brick painted as an iPod like the P-P-P-Powerbook instead?

Very funny indeed. You did follow that link, didn't you?

Quote:

***
3) Finally, and most disturbingly, Jeff was not heard from again. I personally e-mailed him for permission to run his story on ZUG, but after an initial response, I never heard from him again. All of his Web sites have come down, and he is nowhere to be found.
***

It would be unfortunate

[Paxton (24233)]

... if car chargers won't work.

Why are so many people getting this wrong?

[astrosmash (3561)]

If the device detects that it has been stolen, through any number of means such as plugging in to an unauthorized computer or by geographic location, the device disables its charging circuit so that it can't be charged from any changer.

It has nothing to do with the iPod only working with specific, Apple-branded, chargers. That would be stupid.

another idea

[notoriousE (723905)]

An ipod is plugged into an unauthorized computer and all of a sudden dozens of crappy songs are downloaded to it... songs that no one wants to hear like

Freeze Frame by J Geils Band

or wannabe by the spice girls

or wake me up before you go go by wham

mmmbop by hanson

you know, horrible stuff like that --- i know if i were a thief the idea of horrible music would deter me

Re:

[metlin (258108)]

And here I thought that the kind of people that wanted an iPod were the kind that listened to *exactly* that kind of music! ;-)

Not the only use

[Dan East (318230)]

I'm sure the usefulness of this technology in other areas has been considered as well. Specifically, things like bricking a device because a subscription has run out, or disabling it because DRM rights have been violated. After all, once the hardware is in place, it can be used for other purposes by simple software "upgrades".

Dan East

Better to not get it stolen in the first place.

[Filter (6719)]

Hide [hideapod.com] it in a Zune.

Re:Better to not get it stolen in the first place.

[backwardMechanic (959818)]

Don't be silly. We all know the Zune's a mythical beast, and doesn't really exist.

Great...

[Radon360 (951529)]

Finally a digital device that will go on an energy hunger strike if it doesn't like its connectivity situation.

So, would this make the iPhone the Gandhi of portable devices?

Bad idea

[hcdejong (561314)]

I've recharged friends' iPods on my computer (which is obviously not authorized for that iPod). If that were to result in bricking the iPod, I'd be pissed.

Unbricking the iPod when it's connected to an authorized computer would mitigate, but not solve, the problem.

PRM

[MontyApollo (849862)]

PRM...Physical Rights Management...

Re:

[rob1980 (941751)]

I prefer PCE: Physical Consumer Enablement. It's more... enabling.

Thieves?

[muellerr1 (868578)]

This may be marketed as a theft-deterrent, but it's also enabling Apple to exert more control over when and how you listen to your own music. This would also make it very easy for Apple to brick your iPod for doing something they don't approve of. Not that I'm saying they'd abuse that power that way, but it would be technically possible.

iPods and multiple machines

[metlin (258108)]

I've already had hell with the ridiculous interface of iTunes and trying to sync my music across more than one machine (work + home + notebook).

Now, on top of everything, it's going to refuse to charge unless I show that I am the owner on all three? Or maybe, I can only charge it on one?

Either way, this is only making a bad problem worse.

Bad enough that iTunes has more than once destroyed my music backup because I tried added music from another machine. Now it's also going to not let me use my iPod?

Nice. And here I thought Apple was about usability.

Crack-around available in 5 ... 4 ... 3 ...

[ClickOnThis (137803)]

Honestly, how long would it take for someone to find a way around this and post it on the internet? I'm not saying it isn't a good idea -- kind of a DRM for the device-owner instead of the content-owner, for a change. Still, I can't see it working as a deterrent to theives for all that long.

What about non PC charging?

[gstoddart (321705)]

I've got an external USB charger I use when I'm traveling, would they decide my iPod needs to die if I used it?

All I want to be able to do is charge my friggin' iPod when I'm away from home. I don't think Apple should be deciding where I can charge my iPod -- what damage to them if I use a different machine to *charge* the damned thing.

I mean, it's not like you can extract songs from an iPod readily. (At least, not such that I've seen). This just sounds like really dumb functionality.

will never happen....

[FunkyELF (609131)]

I could see not letting iTunes do anything with it on an unauthorized computer, but charging? What bout all the other non-computer things that charge iPods now-a-days like car kits or plain old usb power adapters that go into wall sockets.

My girlfriend has a car charger, a wall charger, and an iHome which all charge her iPod.

great idea

[brunascle (994197)]

uh oh, your PC stopped booting? congratulations, you iPod just did too.

Re:

[FauxPasIII (75900)]

> uh oh, your PC stopped booting? congratulations, you iPod just did too.

Oh well, off to the Apple store to buy a new computer, a new iPod, and then to iTunes to buy all my music again...

Sorry, what was the downside of this for Apple?

I can see it now...

[BigCanOfTuna (541234)]

...the thief only wanted my $250 iPod, but took my $3000 MacBook Pro to make it work.

Um...

[GoodbyeBlueSky1 (176887)]

What about the (old-fashioned!) method of charging via wall-outlet? Do I have to register my apartment with Apple now?

Something in this article seems fishy and I don't think we're getting the full story of Apple's intentions, because the whole thing makes zero sense to me.

Make the iPod impossible to update.

[pcraven (191172)]

I've learned that if you plug a USB socket into the Firewire plug on your motherboard, any subsequently connected USB iPod is then "secured" against further updates. Interesting noises are included as the internal protection circuit is established.

You can still charge it.

Got a soldering iron?

[TrebleJunkie (208060)]

Anyone with a soldering iron and a little time on their hands would likely be able to bypass this. You've got to have a battery somewhere, and you've got to have leads to that battery.

Yeah, it means cracking open the device, but if you've stolen it, there's a good chance you're not going to care all that much about some pry marking on the case.

Re:

[The_Wilschon (782534)]

It is interesting that Apple products' aesthetics seem to be a much better deterrent to tinkering inside the case than "YOUR WARRANTY AND LIFE ARE VOID IF YOU REMOVE THIS STICKER"...

Apple are wusses

[Sciros (986030)]

I fully expect Microsoft to counter this pansy-ass display of "user protection" with the PROPER way of doing it -- if someone plugs the Zune into an unauthorized computer, the Zune explodes. KABLAMO! It'll be like Blade's sword, only with less bad acting.

Anyway like a bunch of people have already said, this is probably going to anger a lot more people than it's going to make happy (as far as consumers go). I for one would rather *not* have my device have a feature like "if you hook this up to the "wrong" machine, it's forever forfeit."

Not to mention this won't act as a deterrent for thieves worth crap.

So my car charger is not authorized?

[140Mandak262Jamuna (970587)]

There are dozens of vendors like belkin selling simple chargers for iPods without using the USB ports. So they all wont be able to charge iPods? Apple can at best thwart iTunes/iPod link on devices reported to be stolen. But preventing charging? Nah.

this is horrible

[SolusSD (680489)]

can you imagine the consumer outcry when thousands of iPod owners can't get their iPods to turn on simply because they didn't understand the concept of pairing their iPod with their machine?

Excellent business case

[wiresquire (457486)]

What a great way to stop people selling their iPods to someone else and instantly making 2nd hand market for iPods impossible!

1. The device is 'attached' to a particular person's computer(s)
2. The device and user is known to the manufacturer, eg via iTunes
3. As the iPod can be effectively rendered useless if someone else buys or uses it, you can't buy one 2nd hand, so you have to fork out for a new one.
4. Profit!

I suggest buying AAPL immediately!

I will take a moment to remind people

[geekoid (135745)]

that this is a patent, not an implementation.

Er, Stupid idea?

[geoff lane (93738)]

Concider the failure modes of such a scheme. Apart from the ones where the thief gets to use the iPod, they all result in the legitimate user losing the use of their iPod.

Re:weeee

[balamw (552275)]

You can use any iPod with multiple computers. Just set it to manually manage music and it'll work fine with any machine you throw at it.

B

Re:weeee

[Anonymous Coward]

I tried open source software for managing it, and that didn't work well at all

You are correct for all possible values of 'it'.

Re:possible solutions

[TheMeuge (645043)]

I suppose it would be relatively easy to implement a password system, where you generate a password when you first plug in a new iPod, and then have to use it when you sync or charge. That would let you use the iPod on as many computers as you want, as long as you enter the password. If you forget the password, you can go back to the Apple store with your credit card or receipt, and since all iPods have unique identification, they could reset it for you, once you provide proof that it's your property. ... wouldn't work too well if you bought it on ebay though... ... but I suppose Apple would enjoy it if their products weren't able to be resold.

Re:

[EvanED (569694)]

Wait, forget using it on multiple machines. Does this suggest that you need to plug your iPod into ANY machine to charge it? You can't just plug it into the wall?

If this is true, it seems like a really retarded idea to me. The times when I want an iPod the most -- when I'm on a trip -- are exactly the times when I'm not going to be near my machine and exactly the time when I'll need to charge it more.

Re:

[Hijacked Public (999535)]

Lots of people think so, because Apple stopped including wall chargers with iPods somewhere around Gen 4ish. You just get the USB to iPod cable.

They can be had for about $5US at Fry's.

Re:weeee

[Cahrin (1002520)]

Rockbox [rockbox.org] is a good open source solution that allows you to manage your iPod on any machine without using iTunes.

Re:

[Poppler (822173)]

If I can't add, remove, edit songs on any machine I am not interested. I tried open source software for managing it, and that didn't work well at all.

Has it been a while since you tried? This has gotten a lot better lately IMO. I use Amarok to manage my iPod; I use it on as many computers as I like, and it lets me pull songs from my (or any) ipod into my collection. It's as seamless as running iTunes, only without the restrictions.