The stolen GSM-phone database

This was kind of always something we'd hoped or assumed existed in every cellphone company's dark sub-basement,
underfunded and otherwise unused. That it didn't exist is unsettling, but at least they're making their way now, yeah?
So the GSM Association (the consortium of GSM network operators, which includes T-Mobile and Cingular in America, of course) has finally gotten around to setting up a simple database that tracks stolen GSM phones. You don't even have to know your IMEI, too; when you report your phone as stolen, your carrier uploads the data to the DB, and the next time the phone is used they'll triangulate your location and the perp's totally busted. Sweet, sweet justice.

[Via GigaOM]