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SpongOfficials of the City of Taylor, Michigan, are today looking into the possibility of making retailers of used gaming equipment take sellers' fingerprints and identity details.
"It tightens up the whole process," said Taylor's director of police services, Jac Desrosiers. "We're doing this because there are instances where those type of items are stolen from homes, and we want to make it harder for thieves. ... There are games out now or video game systems that cost several hundred dollars. If you had a burglary and they take it to one of these chains, they could get $50-$100 (£25-£50)."
The proposed statute goes before the City Council today, and could result in $500 (£250) fines and up to 90 days in prison for non-compliant retailers.
In America, pawnshops and jewellery shops already have to follow the process.
SPOnG spoke to its local (UK, of course) retailer, and was told that a thief could actually make £250 - £300 for a used PS3, and around £18 for a premium game for the console. “We do take ID anyway,†SPOnG was told. “I wouldn't mind if it was a standardised thing, but fingerprints are a bit much.â€ÂÂ
The proposition doesn't seem entirely unreasonable for consoles. £425 for a PS3 is a hefty chunk of change, after all (although SPOnG challenges anyone to shimmy down a drainpipe with its buxom new console). On a game, however, where no more than £20 is going to change hands and there are no serial numbers to trace individual copies anyway, it looks suspiciously like a big old waste of time.
Sean Bersell, spokesman for Entertainment Merchants Association in America, certainly feels that way about games. "They are inherently untraceable,†he said. “OK, so police get this information. What are they going to do with it? There are some of these that are sold. How are police going to keep track? What are they going to do with all this data?"
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