Comments on: Can lastfm locate my mac?

Question: Can lastfm locate my mac?

thisisnotkatrina — Thu, 30 Nov 2006 23:25:08 -0800

My computer was stolen, I used lastfm...is this a long shot or not?

Okay, so a week ago house was robbed and my computer was stolen. I had lastfm installed to log my songs.

Tonight I was on my myspace(shutup) where I have a little box from lastfm saying my most recently played tracks. I saw a song that I don't recall every listening to...so I click and go look at my recent tracks. There is a lot of activity on the 24th and some on the 29th. I haven't had my computer since the 20th. (This is a loaner computer and I have neither my music on here, nor iTunes)

Is there ANY way that this can help me? That whoever stole my computer is listening to my music and lastfm is logging it?

I know nothing about computers or internets or ip addresses or anything...so be gentle, but tell me if this is a shot in the dark or if this can maybe help me out somehow...

By: solid-one-love

solid-one-love — Thu, 30 Nov 2006 23:47:36 -0800

Is there ANY way that this can help me? That whoever stole my computer is listening to my music and lastfm is logging it?

You could always tell lastfm that your computer was stolen and that you would like the IP address your account was accessed from. They will definitely have logged this info.

Then provide the police with that IP address. They can then find out, from the ISP, whose account that is. I assume that you have reported the theft to the cops.

Lastfm might not provide you with the IP address without some kind of legal order to do so, but you never know.

By: helios

helios — Fri, 01 Dec 2006 00:02:47 -0800

You should definitely contact last.fm, then the police. This is actually a common way to catch computer thieves - I've heard several stories in which someone was running the distributed.net client, and was able to locate the laptop because it was still doing work and sending it to distributed.

By: donut

donut — Fri, 01 Dec 2006 05:35:16 -0800

Why do not contacting the police first of all? I don't think lastfm gives out IP addresses to everyone.

By: donut

donut — Fri, 01 Dec 2006 05:45:08 -0800

... and btw, lastfm's FAQ says that they are rotating their server logs frequently. That means the information could be lost, if you're you don't act fast.

By: Ironmouth

Ironmouth — Fri, 01 Dec 2006 06:35:30 -0800

Ask that the logs be maintained and tell them that you will get authorization from the police to obtain the IP addresses ASAP. That way the data will be maintained until you can get authorization to see the IP logs.

By: polyhedron

polyhedron — Fri, 01 Dec 2006 08:13:37 -0800

The police aren't going to put together a subpoena to get the ip address and track down your criminal. Just ask last.fm, the cops can't give you any sort of authorization to read a company's data. (They don't control us!)

I'm pretty sure you'll need to do most of the detective work. It's YOUR last.fm account and if you provide them with enough information to verify that it belongs to you they out to be willing to disclose the IP address. It's not proprietary or even private information, and it's being disclosed (ostensibly) to the account holder, thus no violation of privacy to worry about.

Getting the ISP to disclose the identity of the customer who had that IP will probably require involving the legal system. Fortunately, if you've done the legwork and have the IP address I expect you'll have a significantly easier time getting the legal system and the ISP to work with you.

Good luck!

By: nasreddin

nasreddin — Fri, 01 Dec 2006 10:08:29 -0800

I'm pretty sure Last.fm is a British company, which means getting a US police order may not do you much good anyway. Just ask them nicely.

By: cellphone

cellphone — Fri, 01 Dec 2006 14:00:29 -0800

Make sure to post an update on Metatalk if you get this solved!

By: thisisnotkatrina

thisisnotkatrina — Tue, 12 Dec 2006 17:31:23 -0800

I posted an update on metatalk....

By: russilwvong

russilwvong — Tue, 12 Dec 2006 17:43:39 -0800

MeTa.