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How Do I Prevent Lan Party Theft?
DragonTHC writes "I'm thinking about hosting a lan party open to the public. I'm aiming for approximately 60 people to attend. I can handle all the logistics of operation. The only thing I can't wrap my head around is: how do I prevent theft at the lan party? Do I hire security guards? Do I need security cameras? I don't know the people who will attend, and I don't know if they're trustworthy enough to not steal other people's equipment. What do I do?"
Suppose somebody gets hurt? Are you ready to handle a big personal liability lawsuit?
I would NOT do what you are describing.
Delegate "security" to a dozen or so people you do know.
If you haven't been down-modded lately, you aren't trying.
Sacred cows make the best hamburger.
...stating you are not responsible for lost/stolen/damaged equipment.
"Useless organic meatbag" -HK-47
Hire a security guard, but if you want to intimidate lanparty geeks you need to have him dressed up as Arthas or something. Make sure the "steel is real" when selecting a weapon to go with the costume, geeks can tell 440stainless vs polished aluminum a mile away.
As long as you only have paying visitors and computer geeks nothing will get stolen, all of them have their own equipment to think about, no-one want to risk being kicked out with their "rig" being thrown at their head. On campzone (a 1700 person outdoor lan) im more than comfortable to leave the tent and visit a nearby pool or restaurant. Only a few small items like sponsor flags, and a mobile phone have ever been stolen.
Your better off not trying to do anything to secure anything short of your own equipment. Just post a sign at the door that states that there is "no security" and that every individual is completely responsible for their own property.
20th century Marxism is not progress...
Stick one of those on the network, and people will be too busy downloading that to bother about stealing stuff.
A learning experience is one of those things that say, 'You know that thing you just did? Don't do that.' - D. Adams
Post signs saying you will record video. And do it (assuming you have a large rectangular space, 4 cameras to get a 360 degree view should be easy to set up, and relatively cheap). Record video capturing the face and ID of each person attending, at a bottlenecked entrance. If you have a venue with a parking lot, notify everyone that there will be videotaping of the parking lot, and again, do it. If you have the budget, hire a professional to do the ID checking. This should pretty much make any theft a non issue to prosecute. Be sure to post a disclaimer that you're not responsible for items lost/stolen though.
"Who is the Journal of Quantum Physics going to believe?" --Stephen Hawking
Businesses have an accounting factor called "inventory shrinkage" which really just amounts to "theft". People will steal from time to time, not many actually do it, but some do, and so thefts will happen. You can increase security to discourage it, but you can never make a full guarantee.
Thus, you can increase security in practical ways, but eventually increasing security stops being practical and can even fail to increase actual security. After that, resign to the fact that theft happens. You may increase ticket prices to compensate for the expected loss of a router or two. If it doesn't happen, consider it a credit to the next lan party's theft compensation.
Just place machine gun nests at strategic locations and make sure to have plenty of dogs, preferably Rottweilers.
Seriously though, this does this question have anything to do with technology? Do the same things as you do when you throw a regular party, i.e. trust people who come not to steal stuff and to keep track of their own stuff. Or ask couple of friends to keep an eye on things if you are really paranoid
Negative moral value of force outweighs the positive value of good intentions.
Make photocopies of everyone's drivers liscenses. Knowing that you are not anonymous anymore is going to be a huge deterrent.
Everyone knows that DRM is really the only answer for preventing theft in today's high-tech society.
Find an internet cafe' and see if you can rent it out. Most cafe's will let you for a fee.
Have everyone pitch in a few bucks and you should be fine.
Theres a place that lets you do that here in Dallas.
The greatest revenge in life is massive success.
You can't expect to prevent theft at all in any kind of party.
Hell, if it's a really good party you should wake up 2 weeks later naked in an alley in Tijuana.
Oh, forgot one other biggie!
We had to hire a generator rental company to provide power. We couldn't find any place that enough juice to one room to run 50 PCs. (at least, not without seriously violating code)
But GPL-porn would probably be made by the same people that release software under the GPL......
Must...burn...imagination....
A learning experience is one of those things that say, 'You know that thing you just did? Don't do that.' - D. Adams
- You should hire the Hells Angels and pay them with beer. Make sure you announce it nationwide and let everyone know that event is free. Then you let someone film a doc about it. Oh, and make sure you have everyone stand out in the hot sun all afternoon before it kicks off. And don't forget to make it easy for everyone to have easy access to drugs an alcohol.
My humor is probably your flamebait
> How can you steal from them without them finding out?
1. Make everyone sign "The host can keep any stuff that is left behind" contract before entering.
2. Yell "oh my god, are those girls naked out there"
3. When everyone is out, close the door
4. Profit
That is actually not stealing, because you made them sign. If you want to steal, skip #1.
Having organized parties as large as 2000 people, there is one thing that will pretty much be true with a party of every size : You cannot possibly guarantee that there won't be any theft at all and maintain a decent party atmosphere (let alone keep inside the budget).
You should, under no circumstances, assume liability over your guests' equipment. They need to know they are responsible for their own stuff, and that you will not be held accountable if somebody steals it. If they cannot watch their equipment for the duration of the party, then that is not your fault.
You can, of course, offer a "lockbox"-service -- i.e. offer to keep their hardware secured in a cage or some such which is guarded 24/7; This is pretty much the same model as wardrobe at theaters. You take their bags/hardware, issue them a ticket, and do not release the bags/hardware without that ticket. Make sure you inform yourself on what liability you are taking on (if any), possibly restrict it to a maximum value, and consider insuring yourself against theft thereof. If you do this, make absolutely sure that the station is manned 24/7 (we usually do this near the reception area). Think about policies and procedures for when somebody loses their ticket (they will.)
If you provide the network/power infrastructure (and you usually do), think a bit about how to secure it. If you rent your equipment, inquire about theft insurance. It may well be worth it, depending on what your equipment costs. The most probable time switches, routers, etc. get stolen is when everybody is packing up (at the end of the party) -- it's chaos at that point. Keep an eye on your stuff. We usually devise a monitoring system; if your switches are managed, you can keep pinging them once a second from a central station. If they don't reply two or more times, an alarm goes off (loud, obnoxious, flashy alarm, with the equipment name, number and mapped location on the screen, in red). Make sure you have people in place who can follow up on that stuff, fast. If there is only one exit, it may be easier to check for your "bigger" stuff; smaller stuff is easy to hide in bags, and searching bags is not only really, really timeconsuming, but also kills party atmosphere, potentially lands you in legal hot waters, etc.
Do not assume that people will leave via the designated exit/entrance area. You will most likely HAVE to have a secondary fire exit (or more, depending on the size of the venue). These cannot be blocked or barred. When people leave at the end, they may also use these. Equipment near there is rather high risk. Have people there.
Security "guards" (i.e. guys hired for that specific purpose) are nice for FEELING secure, but they don't actually do much. LAN-party goers don't usually end up in fistfights, and you don't want guards roughing up your guests. It doesn't, of course, hurt when some of your organizing team (you do have a team, right ?) look impressive in person :>
Security cameras don't usually have high resolutions and are easily avoided. You can make pretty nifty time-compressions of them though for the after-party videos.
If you want, you can devise a ticketing/sticker system for high-value items of your guests ... I.e. when they check in, give them 3-4 stickers for their equipment and a token to be kept secure (an armband, a badge, that sort of stuff). They affix their stickers to their equipment, and on checkout, you check the stickers against the badge. If you go this road, do keep an eye on speed. Wireless handheld barcode scanners can help. If this process is too slow, your team and your guests will grow frustrated at checkout and eventually not bother with it anymore.
You mention that you do not know the people who are coming. Do you also not know who is coming ? If not, make it a requirement to sign up on your website. Throw in some nifty stuff for that (seat selection, etc.), and people will do it. That way at least you'll have some personal information to identify people with.
Yeah and then you get someone who "proves" they can hide items... Don't go there. :)
I've been to dozens of LAN parties, and I've never lost any equipment. In fact, I usually end up leaving with more equipment than I came with.
There are 0x40000000 types of people: those who understand 32-bit IEEE 754 floating point, and those who don't.
Handcuff them to the table, and when they want to leave, you can escort them out.
I used to work for you, didn't I?
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Speaking as someone whose worked with folks who host a 120+ person LAN party every 6 weeks, there are really only 2 ways to prevent it:
1.) Only invite folks whom you know and trust.
2.) Don't have a LAN party.
But, beyond that, try to organize your folks who are coming into groups who know each other, or can at least work cooperatively outside what's going on in the LAN. That is, if you have groups of folks who know one another, then while some are napping or off getting refreshments, someone they knowand trust is there to guard their loot. That's about the most straightforward way, because you won't know everyone, but hopefully everyone there will know a few other folks. And if they don't, maybe you can create some new groups of friends.
More than that, you DO need to have some sort of hold harmless paperwork that everyone agrees and signs, so you're not left with the liability issue. I mean, let's say no one steals anything, no one hurts themselves, what if someone innocently brings in a virus or malware or keylogger that gets spread through the LAN. Sometimes, CYA is the only way to do things.
Just my $0.02. Good luck, either way!
Awk! Pieces of eight. Pieces of eight. Pieces of seven... ERROR: General Protection Fault. [Paroty Error.]
Make sure the cable is looped around something that is relatively solid and unmovable.
Such as the gamers themselves. Oh, wait...
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When I take my daughter to the local "run and pipes, play games, and eat pizza" restaurant, they stamp our hands to match. I also fence, and before each tournament, we get a stamp applied to our gear after it gets certified. You could do a combination of these with gear and users. Get some cool logo stamp with a number sequencer. Give each attendee a card and stamp the card, and then stamp a sticker on the major components. When you leave, they have to match up the card to the gear. PITA. Some might complain of getting stickers on their gear. Some might think its pretty cool.
No matter how subtle the wizard, a knife between the shoulder blades will seriously cramp his style.
*stealing. . although anyone impersonating Seal should also get an Ass Whoopin. .
Wishful thinking doesn't solve real problems. His "attitude to life" isn't what will prevent theft or defend against lawsuits. His attitude didn't create thieves or lawyers, why would changing his attitude make them disappear? It's not his fault the US is filled with lawyers and thieves.
That goes for both the LAN guy and the commenter guy.
In the US, you need to protect yourself from lawyers and thieves. No one else will do it for you and the lawyers and thieves protect each other.
Arrange seating so that small groups are seated together... this way they can watch each others' rigs. They can get to know one another and identify strangers.
Have all Computers face inward, with only a single accessible entrance for each group from behind.
Less points of entry, means less points to watch.
We're talking about a bunch of geeks at a LAN party. I think your cunning plan would fall apart at step 2 as everyone would be too focused on the game to pay attention to naked women.
God invented whiskey so the Irish would not rule the world.
Stamp everyones hands, and compare it to what they take out.
Oh, and armed guards for those that try.. A few dead bodies on a stake out front will be a grand deterrent.
---- Booth was a patriot ----
Or they could use something nerds are really afraid of, girls.
Or soap. Or sunlight.
I don't think the girls need to be naked
If this will be your first LAN party, go smaller. Get a feel for the check-in dynamics and such. Then grow.
If you've got a few smaller ones under your belt, and you want to go big, read on.
First, indemnify, indemnify, indemnify. Require all attendees to sign a waiver which says they will not hold you accountable for any equipment harm or theft or any personal harm or theft. Ensure that each person knows that they are responsible for their own equipment and actions, and can leave at any time.
Second, if you're asking for money, clarify the refund procedure. I suggest establishing a no-refund policy, then bending that policy on a case-by-case basis.
Third, hold the LAN in a secure, very public location. I recommend a church or community center for a 60-man LAN, then a firehall once you break 100.
Fourth, establish clearly defined, binding rules which outline attendees' expected behavior. I recommend taking a look at the rules contained in the Pittco information sheet, published by the Pittsburgh LAN Coalition (disclaimer: I wrote it and am an organizer of its Iron Storm events).
Fifth, tell every attendee that security is their responsibility when they sign up and when they arrive. Advise them to bring as little equipment as they can. They should consider locks (barrels, the more numbers the better) for their case and they should put their name on everything. They should also backup their data before coming to the LAN.
Sixth, if someone comes to you and says they think that something has been stolen, ask them to ask the people around them if they've seen it. Some people immediately think that something has been stolen when perhaps it is underneath something or fell onto the floor. If a lot of people have left the party and/or it's near the end of the party, tell the person to post a lost and found request on your forums (you do have forums, right?) and to remind you so that you can send something in a mass email (you have all of the addresses of your attendees, right?).
Seventh, remember that most people who come to LANs aren't going to want to steal anything because they're going to be busy guarding their own equipment. Do not allow spectators. If you must, require that they be escorted, or that they check-in with you every so often. Also, use wristbands to keep track of who checked-in. If someone doesn't have a wristband or a staff T-shirt (consider that after an event or two), you have every right to tell them to leave. Call the cops if you have to. Just do not use force—you are not certified or licensed to do such things in public places and you will open yourself to legal trouble.
Eighth, post this question at forums for MillionManLAN, EverLAN, Lake Effect LAN, Pittco, Noreaster, and some of the other larger, non-corporate-sponsored LANs. They'll give you good advice, and you'll even draw some people to your event!
Colin Dean Go a year without DRM
This is honestly the first time I've ever heard these things mentioned when it comes to organizing LAN parties.
The purely logical side of me wants to say, "Hey, yeah... nice advance planning. I never even considered the idea of maybe looking at insurance for such an event."
But the practical side of me? It thinks "WTF is wrong with people today?!?" I've been to a number of LAN parties hosted at people's homes, and even hosted a couple myself. Everyone I've ever met at them was MORE courteous and considerate than average. The closest thing to a "theft" I ever saw was a situation where someone accidentally picked up and packed up another person's Ethernet cable. I think that got sorted out when another individual offered to just give the guy one of his to keep, for free, since he had plenty of them at home anyway.
The way I see things, sure ... ANY time you have some sort of party or get-together involving multiple people, you have a "non zero" risk of something bad happening. Maybe someone will fall down a flight of stairs and break an arm? Maybe they'll plug a defective network card or cable into your gigabit switch and fry the thing? But like the parent post says, you can't even get out of bed in the morning and do anything useful if you're scared of everything.
Ultimately, I'd feel FAR safer around a bunch of avid computer gamers willing to drag their expensive computer gear over to my house than the random mix of individuals drinking at the corner bar. (You have to remember, they're all taking a certain amount of risk coming to some "stranger's house" with their equipment in tow, too. The host isn't the only one putting himself out there.)
Eric?
It is no longer uncommon to be uncommon.
In the future, all restaurants are Taco Bell.
True, but in the future, you can also get anything at a Taco Bell. The Taco Bell company already owns Pizza Hut, KFC, A&W, and Long John Silver's, and some restaurants already sell multiple Yum! brands.
You meant, "insensitive clod".
I hold very few opinions. I hold information based on observation and fact. If you wish to disagree, please use facts.
uid 327 ?!?! What, are you like a bacteria from the Archean?!?
I hold very few opinions. I hold information based on observation and fact. If you wish to disagree, please use facts.
I'm a little late, but I thought I would pitch in.
I'm "Ash", the "Director of BYOC" of the largest Bring Your Own Computer event in North America: QuakeCon. (http://www.quakecon.org)
1) A waiver. You'll want to provide it in advance of the event, not just on site. Not only is it ethically sound to allow attendees to read the terms they will be agreeing to in order to attend in advance, minors can't sign legally binding documents and they will need to have their parent/guardian sign it. You could use a variation of the waiver on www.quakecon.org (or if it's down now, you can email me and I'll send it to you). It was put together by id Software's legal team, and is probably a fine example.
2) Check-in, Check-out. Standard operating procedure for a LAN party dictates that you take record (however you prefer: text, image, video) of the "big ticket" items that an attendee brings into the event such that no one but the original person can leave with those items. Emphasis is on "big ticket", don't bother tracking mice, keyboards, Nintendo DSes, etc. Let people bring a backpack or whatever to bring those items in and out with them if they so choose.
3) Bag check. Gotta check the contents of bags coming in and out, every time, see (2).
4) Establish a single entry/exit. It's just too costly (in money or, more likely, volunteer hours) to maintain multiple entry/exit bag check points. You should only use a single egress/ingress. Of course, there will be fire doors all over the place that you may not lock. That's fine, there are two solutions. Sit a volunteer at the door to watch it, or (best ever) buy a cheap "door alarm" from an electronics store and fasten it to the door. You can't block fire exits, but you can most certainly have alarms on fire exits. We cut our security budget by a ton using these things, (the idea actually came from Sgt. Mike Bradshaw, our outstanding law enforcement partner.)
5) Do you have sponsored network hardware? If so, then don't allow anyone to bring network hardware into the event. Do you provide patch cables? Then don't allow anyone to bring patch cables into the event. Anything else requires some sort of tagging/identification system and it's likely not worth your time.
6) Prizes. If enough prizes/freebies get given out at your LAN party that it's an issue, give the sponsors a certificate to hand out with the prize to certify ownership for the bag check guys.
Of course, it would be easy to talk for pages and pages about the challenges of LAN party logistics, but those are probably the enough to get you through.
Good luck, have fun!
-- Travis "Ash" Bradshaw
We held a multi-day LAN party for nearly 100 people. This was an open LAN and also during PSU's dance marathon weekend. In otherwords, there were thousands of people going in and out over the course of the LAN party. One of the method's that we used was to control the entry and exit points of the LAN. When people arrived, we had them enter the serial number of the more expensive portions of their equipment. Mice and Keyboards we ignored, but Cases and Monitors were checked in. When you wanted to leave, you had to go by our desk again and sign out. It was obvious if someone was leaving with a tower or monitor, so it was simple to check. We also had Gamecubes setup with projectors. For those devices we locked the gamecubes in an AV cabinet and wrapped the controller's cords through a padlock to prevent people from walking with the controllers. I think the worst we encountered were a few lost dongles from the Xbox controllers (not stolen, just lost in the shuffle and found much later). So, padlocks for the console controllers, registered equipment, and checkpoints at entry/exit chokepoints. I don't believe that we had anyone report any stolen equipment which was quite amazing for an open lan at a major university.
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