Thieves steal 7,000 WiiU consoles

[ComeTurismO]

Not to be random, but Nintendo should create a new generation of Nintendo consoles.
E.g
Nintendo HappyMe.

 

[Psionic Roshambo]

I can see it now....

"Dad I told you I wanted the Wii-U, why did you get me 7,000 Wii's....."

 

[Minox]

Oh, they're gonna get the IP's... which are useless in the days of DHCP connections where 99% of IP's on the internet are completely random and even if you have the IP, the best you can do is get the WHOIS of the ISP, and without the ISP's co-operation (and it doesn't have to co-operate or doesn't necessarily have the capacity to retrieve such information) you'll never know who had that particular IP assigned at any given time.

And to follow up on that a little bit, there's nothing saying that the actual thieves will attempt to access the Internet through these stolen consoles. It could just as well be unknowing people who ended up purchasing stolen goods.

 

[Foxi4]

And to follow up on that a little bit, there's nothing saying that the actual thieves will attempt to access the Internet through these stolen consoles. It could just as well be unknowing people who ended up purchasing stolen goods.

...in which case said goods would be confiscated, which hurts the poor, unsuspecting buyers, not the thieves.

 

[McHaggis]

It does get a lot of ports.

Except for the Mini Wii. That doesn't have many ports.

 

[Guild McCommunist]

Except for the Mini Wii. That doesn't have many ports.

I'm not gonna lie, that was a lot more clever than I was expecting.

10/10 would read again.

 

[McHaggis]

I can see it now....

"Dad I told you I wanted the Wii-U, why did you get me 7,000 Wii's....."

Dad's response: "Shut the fuck up and help me scratch off these serial numbers before the cops arrive!"

 

[air2004]

There is no HAPPY ENDING in this story

 

[ferofax]

IIRC, they can probably track these devices as "stolen" as soon as it goes online. At least, that should be how it is. Not sure though if Nintendo can identify specific consoles thru a sort of digital hardcoded serial number.

 

[air2004]

IIRC, they can probably track these devices as "stolen" as soon as it goes online. At least, that should be how it is. Not sure though if Nintendo can identify specific consoles thru a sort of digital hardcoded serial number.

Couldn't they just track them down thru the mac address once it goes online ?

 

[ferofax]

Couldn't they just track them down thru the mac address once it goes online ?

Yeah, that too, but it would probably be more secure to do it like that. They don't have to recover it, it's already lost and probably insurance was already claimed, but they can spam it online. Like, a hidden firmware patch, then it ruins everything by overlaying a dialog that says "This WiiU was reported stolen. Please call Nintendo at bla bla...". That should be awesome, kind of like Windows Genuine Notifications, except big and in your face and never ever goes away ever again unless Nintendo confirms it's not stolen.

 

[Rydian]

A. I don't think the naming scheme is silly - you might as well say that people confused PlayStation with Playstation 2 and PlayStation 3

"2" and "3" indicate a number in a series, succession.

"U" isn't a number and, unlike some other letters that are used for revisions ("X" and such), has no immediate succession meaning.

Oh, they're gonna get the IP's... which are useless in the days of DHCP connections where 99% of IP's on the internet are completely random and even if you have the IP, the best you can do is get the WHOIS of the ISP, and without the ISP's co-operation (and it doesn't have to co-operate or doesn't necessarily have the capacity to retrieve such information) you'll never know who had that particular IP assigned at any given time.

Of course, if this was a Nintendo warehouse, not a store warehouse, they'll go out of their way to retrieve them... but still.

They're not in a pinch, Snail. Trust me.

Your average user like me can't get a personal address from an IP because we don't have access to the ISP databases.

ISPs themselves DO have the information of which IP address was assigned to which house address at any given moment (the amount of time they save this information for varies, but it's not like we're dealing with a year-old crime here). The ISPs WILL give that information to the authorities, since this is a multi-million heist...

And to follow up on that a little bit, there's nothing saying that the actual thieves will attempt to access the Internet through these stolen consoles. It could just as well be unknowing people who ended up purchasing stolen goods.

And it was stated that when you get into contact with a bunch of people that bought from a criminal, you'll have an easier time finding the criminal.

You know, like how cops will question pawn shops once they trace a stolen watch there. They ask them about who brought the item in.

Couldn't they just track them down thru the mac address once it goes online ?

No, an individual device's MAC address is not immediately available on the internet. The MAC available would be that of the modem/gateway.

(A Wii U WILL have to connect through some sort of router, gateway, or translation device).




Don't get me wrong, I don't think that the whole IP-tracking business is going to be how the guys are caught, but it is at least feasible.

 

[Anous]

7000 Wii U systems is a pretty good theft. I really hope they'll get caught. That's a lot of losses for Nintendo, especially seeing as their economy isn't the best atm.

 

[Taleweaver]

7000 wiiU's. In other words...those guys need to download 35 terabyte in firmware updates.

 

[broitsak]

7000 wiiU's. In other words...those guys need to download 35 terabyte in firmware updates.

I hope they stole 7000 TV's while they were at it.

 

[air2004]

If you buy one , does it come with a ' HAPPY ENDING ' \ 0 /
|
/ \

 

[Jan1tor]

What would be cool is if Nintendo sent code to the 7000 Wii Us that come online to brick it when it is updated. They have the IDs for the consoles so they could just turn them off, rendering them useless.

 

[Sicklyboy]

Looks like DeadlyFoez has been pretty busy lately. Gotta dump those NANDs somehow

 

[Jan1tor]

7000 Wii U systems is a pretty good theft. I really hope they'll get caught. That's a lot of losses for Nintendo, especially seeing as their economy isn't the best atm.

Most probably the trucking companies insurance will compensate for the loss.