Apple anti-theft system would leave thieves powerless—literally

This is a brilliant idea.

"And while there have been some attempts to dissuade thieves from stealing our things, most have been pretty easy to get around. But what if a thief knew that if he (or she) stole that iPod, it would only have one charge cycle left before it became useless?

A recently-published patent filed by Apple (and dug up by the New Scientist) could provide one such deterrent. The patent, titled "Protecting electronic devices from extended unauthorized use," outlines a technique that would allow a particular device to authenticate itself with certain, user-approved power supplies and devices so that it can only be charged by those devices. In a lot of ways, it's a lot like DRM, but for electronic devices."

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