From Openmoko

Important Note: This article or section documents one or more OpenMoko Wish List items, the features described here may or may not be implemented in the future.

This is a service provided by FIC (or a third party, for clarity purposes FIC will be used throughout) that stores a small amount of information about the phone.

The phone has the URL of the account, which enables 'read only' access to specified data. The URL is quite prominent on the phone, perhaps even on the back. When someone clicks on the URL, they see:

• This phone is registered to; (name withheld)
• In the event you find this phone, please email oops@whereever.com, or send to: The Police Station, Main Street, ... for a reward of $x
• The owner of this phone has reported this phone as lost or stolen.
• View phone history

To explain further a typical history of a phone.

The phone is built at FIC, who know the IMEI which the account is based on, and account sign-in details, which they include in the box. Perhaps with a means to encourage the user to register - for example, it's the first thing you have to do when you get it out of the box.

They set the above fields to "FIC, phonesinshipping@fic.com, In shipping to user", or "FIC, phonesinshipping@fic.com, In shipping to Carphone Warehouse".

When FIC get confirmation of delivery, they add to the phone history (it can't be erased, though contact details of previous users are not visible).

The user opens up their shiny phone, and either bypasses the login process, or completes it, entering their publically viewable details - their name if they are comfortable with that, maybe just a police station, or other drop point. Private details - name, address, ... may also be addable. Then they set the fields above to "John Smith, johnSmith@fic.com, Registered".

After a few months, they decide to enter a monastery that does not allow phones, so with regret, they decide to sell it on ebay. They write up the auction listing, and as suggested in the helpful documents (or perhaps reminded by a potential buyer) they include a photo giving the phone account URL (which includes enough check digits that it's hard to guess), and set the account status to "phone for sale on ebay, auction #4894998983". It's widely publicised (big letters on FIC website maybe) that you shouldn't buy phones on ebay unless the phone is in the "for sale on ebay, auction #44948948" state.

The sale completes, and the account status is changed to "phone sold, in transit to ebay user Trinity". 'Trinity' gets their phone, and registers, setting the above fields to "Pete Stewart, me@yahoo.com, Registered."

The phone is now picked up after Pete, in a drunken haze leaves it on top of a planter in the middle of a park. Someone notices the URL on the back - or on the display when they touch it. They go to the URL, and finds the link to send Pete email, and what to do with the phone, along with any offer of reward.

Pete wakes up next day at 3PM, and after checking his email, he finds a message from FIC saying 'Someone has found your phone, their details are "Police Station, Main Street, ...'

To recap. The account has public and private areas. The account number is based on the IMEI, in a deterministic way, and cannot be forged without changing the IMEI, which is not public. The phone history cannot be wiped, but on a transfer of the account the previous persons details are not visible to the new user, or the public any more.

Basic functions of the account would be free.

Perhaps other options - email account, compressing web-proxy, backup, ... may be pay-for services.

Privacy considerations

For various reasons, people might not want to put any info in the registration forms. This means, that the neo registration site should allow for people to fully decide on their own, what they want to provide.

The extreme would be someone not registering until they decide to sell the neo, at which time - to be fair to the buyer - she/he either gives the first-registration-code to the buyer, or marks the phone as "being in transit to buyer", so that the buyer can register.