You consider an ip address private information? I guess I don't ... I look at it like a license plate for your car. Wherever you go in your car, people see it. It doesn't even belong to you, it assigned from another entity.

The resources required for this are quite minimal. A server only gets hit when there is a sync. The server only does anything with that hit if it's a new combination of serial/ip. I could whip up the back end for this on linux in less than an hour, and I'm rusty.

It's not really that different than your ip address being logged when you visit a web server.

As for divulging, reveal the info to the owner of that serial number. If they don't have a database of this, again this is something that could be whipped up in no time, and it would be voluntary participation. You don't have to register your serial number and contact information unless you want this feature active.

If my T1 server wasn't disabled as it is, then I could have run the backend server functions from there without issue. As it is, I've now only got a static DSL, which may not be enough for decent bursts of traffic.

This service would provide only minimal information from the "warehouse", an ip address to the owner of that serial number. You could even automate this part really easy.

I don't think this is an invasion of privacy. Your ip address isn't private information, nor is it yours. This would be available to those who wish to participate, those who do not can continue doing what they do now when their empeg gets stolen ...

Greg