Possible Stolen Red Camera. Help Needed.

[Radoslav Karapetkov]

The camera could be modified to allow the rental house to enter a password to set a timer in the camera to shut the camera down after the rental time is up, plus maybe a day or two. The camera could display the time left on the rental to tell the renter when the camera is due back.

The accessories could get a code through their power from the camera that would be required or they would power down, so they would not work on camera's SN not programed into their firmware. The camera password could be used to add more SN to the accessories, that way if any accessories are taken they will not work on another camera since only the owner can change permissions.

The owner would set the timer/limiter so it would also lock out the reset on the clock, and limit the number of turn-ons before the camera locks up with just a prompt for the password.

You could add some combination of buttons to be pressed in some defined order along with the password so that it would be very hard to crack and get the camera to ever work.

You could have the camera burn out a fuse (or worse) or something if someone trys to crack the password more than three times. (it could start beeping continuously until the battery is unplugged also!)

The display can say "This camera stolen from: Don Doe, 123 Main, Anytown, USA" all the time after the rental time has lapsed.

Do not have a way the renter can extend the time, even over modem or beep code through the microphone input, since that would allow a crack.

That would make the camera useless to anyone who steels it, and RED (tm) could tell everyone so to discourage such acts.

I also second this.

Password protection is very important and should definitely be added to future builds.

And it should also be programmable, which means that:

- If you want, you can disable it entirely, which is not recommended, unless you're giving it to someone you TOTALLY trust or if you're operating the camera yourself.

- Set the camera to ask for password on every boot. This could be annoying, but you should also be able to...

- Set the camera to ask for password once every 24 hours - for every shooting day - you log on in the morning and it doesn't bother you again till next morning. Or something similar.

I would also suggest two passwords:

- One for the camera technician [programmable] - Only you and the tech. guy knows that one. I would always send someone I trust to take care of the camera or go on the shoot myself. I wouldn't send my baby all alone somewhere without the tender care of her lover or of a good friend of his .

- Another [internal] password that only you should know [programmable and for-your-eyes-only] - in case the technician gets cheated somehow or he turns to the Dark Side or whatever. This password should appear more rarely - once a month or something like that.

Both passwords should be 8-10 symbols at least, or, you know - strong enough.

Also if the camera body is opened, the internal password should immediately activate itself. In case someone wants to try and hack into the system clock or whatever.

All the passwords should be recoverable by the RED Service, of course. In case you forget it or mess something else up.

I guess the RED Team already knows these things and are cooking something up.

Just wanted to give some suggestions.


Merry Christmas to the RED nation!

 

[Manfred Lopez]

I think I like the Holiday Inn solution the best. Just use a key card, pre-programed on your computer, that you slide in a couple of times to get the green light (and it has to be a couple of times because in never works the first time around ).

Or go really retro and use actual car keys...

 

[Brian F Kobylarz]

Alternate shutdown suggestion + Custom ID

Alternate shutdown suggestion + Custom ID

Let's put this idea out to the community for consideration:

If you chose, your RED could be required to "phone home" at least once every ___ days. If it did not shake hands, it would shut down.
This could benefit both owners and the RED team. Perhaps a quick file share with camera data - number of hours, software versions, etc.. RED could alert the owner via email that their camera is using an out of date firmware, or identify other issues. Of course, this feature should be optional - we want to avoid frightening someone who might think this is a new Big Brother.

The problem with waiting for someone possessing a stolen RED to try to upload new firmware is that if they know this would fry the camera, they would just use it as is. Just like that old "winter crasher" car. If they are involved in certain industries (i.e. porn), they may not ever bring the footage to a real post house - the code imprint would not be in the released DVD's - again allowing them to bypass detection.

The advantage with the "phone home" requirement is that someone stealing a camera would have a very short timeframe to use it before it would be of no resale or production value. Was it due to call in that week or next month? only the owner would know. It would certainly reduce the probability of theft.


That said, I would certainly like being able to have a customized ID such as "Property of ____" appear on the screen during boot-up. Also, for a DP that is an independent owner/operator - the customized labeling could serve as proof of originator for copyright issues.
If that info also made it into the metadata, even better. (Though I would not want to sacrifice more essential data).

 

[Andreas Hellebust]

Wouldn't the easiest solution be to implant a GPS unit in each camera? Hardwired, so it couldn't be removed? I don't know if this is too paranoid, but I most often really miss a gps transmitter in my electronic stuff (especially my cell phone, hehe)

 

[vincelucero]

Tricky situation. You want it to be a simple solution and all of these so far have a weakness. Whatever the solution, just make sure it doesn't bite me in the ass when I'm shooting for 2 months in Antarctica with no phones/internet, forget my password and lose my key. And for Pete's sake please don't bring back the dongles of Avid!!!

GPS would be my vote as long as it's user controlled on/off.

Merry Christmas everyone, or as we say here: Mele Kalikimaka!

 

[Robert P. Hogue]

OK, update: Anthony from Airsealand was kind enough to drive by Mr. Wahid's address and it looks like he moved out just over a week ago. We're happy to reward anyone with information that leads to the recovery of our equipment.

Thank you, everyone, for your support, ideas and sentiments.

At this stage, there is only two options. Either something has happened to him (hospitalization, detention, bereavement, or his own death), or else there is a sinister motive (Theft, trying to run from the law, trying to avoid debtors, damaged the camera, etc). If he had nothing to hide, he would have made contact with you, or had someone do so on his behalf.

The first option that I urge is that you report the missing item as a theft, and make sure to report it to the local police, and FBI chapter closest to his last known whereabouts.

The second option is to hire a private investigator to do a skip trace. The more information you have on him, the better. They will use social engineering, and contact his former landlord, employers, associates, friends, etc to try and finesse his whereabouts. Once you have this, you get an attorney on his case, and in most jurisdictions, you can seek damages plus recovery of your legal costs. And if you do locate him, and he states that something happened to him, make certain that this can be authenticated by him sending you a copy of a hospital bill, copy of death certificate of the deceased relative, etc before you leave him off the hook.

 

[Eric MacIver]

Did you ever give out the actual serial #? The more facts you post, the better your chances of recovery and it will also keep some of the other Red owners that have a 90# from being harassed.

Yes, I edited my original post - 91.

 

[Eric MacIver]

At this stage, there is only two options. Either something has happened to him (hospitalization, detention, bereavement, or his own death), or else there is a sinister motive

We have confirmed that after his return date, he was alive and well. Still trying to track him down... FBI have been informed. Local police won't even take a report. Still trying that avenue. Hoping the insurance companies can file the reports with them better than we can.

 

[Lexicon]

We have confirmed that after his return date, he was alive and well. Still trying to track him down... FBI have been informed. Local police won't even take a report. Still trying that avenue. Hoping the insurance companies can file the reports with them better than we can.

I really hope you get your RED back. Given the number of Abdul Waheeds' in that area he's probably gonna be VERY difficult to find. You should see if you can get a photograph of him to go by because his name is like "John Smith" in the middle eastern community. Do you have any information at all about his previous rental usage such as what the shorts were called and who he worked with?

 

[Brent J. Craig]

Wouldn't the easiest solution be to implant a GPS unit in each camera?

Everybody understands that GPS is a passive, one-way, receive-only technology, right?

GPS's do NOT communicate back to the GPS satellites.

You would need some sort of cell-phone or wireless data connection that would report in with location updates. This would likely have a monthly/yearly cost for the network access.


I would also be very wary of trusting multi-million-dollar productions to a camera that has a dead man's switch. The risk of shutting down production because you lost your 'camera keys' is simply too great.

The bottom line is that at $17.5K, a Red body is almost disposable. For the price of a 3 week HD camera rental, you have paid for the camera. It does not need to be protected like the Nuclear Football.

The only thing these ideas would accomplish would be to ensure that your stolen Reds end up at the bottom of a lake while the thief goes on to sell the less-traceable accessories.

Maybe if they open up the firmware to hacks, you can lock YOUR Red down like Fort Knox. The ones people rent for real jobs need as few avenues of failure as possible.

 

[Steve Sherrick]

Indierentals,

Certainly don't want to criticize at this inopportune time, but how is it that you are not sure what serial # he has? That seems odd to me. There should be documentation of what serial # goes out to who. Clarification?

Regardless, I hope you catch the guy and this is a good reality check for all of us.

Steve

 

[sander kamp]

The bottom line is that at $17.5K, a Red body is almost disposable. For the price of a 3 week HD camera rental, you have paid for the camera. It does not need to be protected like the Nuclear Football.

The only thing these ideas would accomplish would be to ensure that your stolen Reds end up at the bottom of a lake while the thief goes on to sell the less-traceable accessories.

Affordable (relatively) and being able to buy one are two separate things as long as there is a waiting list of several months. Losing your RED now could mean several months of no income: probably a lot more than 17.5K.

 

[Brent J. Craig]

Certainly don't want to criticize at this inopportune time, but how is it that you are not sure what serial # he has?

I'm finding this strange as well. He has said the other 2 are out on rentals, but if you need to file police reports and call the FBI, wouldn't it make sense to call your other customers and ask which bodies they have?!?

We aren't getting the full story here.

 

[Andrae Palmer]

I wouldn't even take this thread very seriously, considering the rental company doesn't even know what serial number is missing. At the time of Mr. Waheed renting the camera there must have been less than 100 RED cameras in the wild. How is it possible that you don't know the serial number? Perhaps you really didn't lose a camera then... it could all be some paperwork screwup. Seems they don't track serial numbers for any of their cameras... considering that they don't have the paperwork for the other 2 red cameras being rented out. It's been eleven days now... how long does it take to confirm the serial numbers of the other 2 cameras? Sloppy operation guys.

 

[vincelucero]

I wouldn't even take this thread very seriously, considering the rental company doesn't even know what serial number is missing. At the time of Mr. Waheed renting the camera there must have been less than 100 RED cameras in the wild. How is it possible that you don't know the serial number? Perhaps you really didn't lose a camera then... it could all be some paperwork screwup. Seems they don't track serial numbers for any of their cameras... considering that they don't have the paperwork for the other 2 red cameras being rented out. It's been eleven days now... how long does it take to confirm the serial numbers of the other 2 cameras? Sloppy operation guys.

tough crowd.

 

[Corey Culp]

tough crowd.

It might be a little caustic, but it's a dead-on summation of what we know based on the information we've been provided. It does seem a little odd that the "rental house" doesn't include the serial numbers of ANY of the devices that are leaving their facility on some kind rental agreement, physical or electronic.

 

[Steve Sherrick]

Wait, wait guys. Before this gets into a bashing on Indierentals, that was not my intent on questioning them about the serial numbers. It was a curiosity. Perhaps they have other methods in place for tracking the cameras. We'll have to wait until more details become known about exactly what happened, but until then I don't think we can pass judgement on them. More important to establish how this happened, how to prevent it happening to other rental companies, and ultimately providing the community with a heads up on the security concerns.

Steve

 

[CJ Roy]

Well, it could be a pain for those of us who are also in the nineties, with how popular this forum is.

This shouldn't take much detective work to figure out.

 

[Corey Culp]

Wait, wait guys. Before this gets into a bashing on Indierentals, that was not my intent on questioning them about the serial numbers. It was a curiosity. Perhaps they have other methods in place for tracking the cameras. We'll have to wait until more details become known about exactly what happened, but until then I don't think we can pass judgement on them. More important to establish how this happened, how to prevent it happening to other rental companies, and ultimately providing the community with a heads up on the security concerns.

Steve

I wasn't trying to insinuate anything. I, too, found it curious as to why he wasn't sure which of his 3 cameras was the unit in question.

I apologize if it came across accusatory.

 

[Brent J. Craig]

...was not my intent on questioning them about the serial numbers.

I was. What's the deal guys?