People still steal smartphones, despite them being locked down with thumb and face scanners along with being traceable. It seems to be a hard market to kill.
The thing which really reduced iPhone thefts in the U.S. wasn’t biometrics: it was the carriers begrudgingly cooperating on activation locks. Not being able to get cellular connectivity really took the value out of it since someone couldn’t just pay a disinterested retail store employee to activate a suspiciously cheap phone.
I feel bad about it but I rather wish it worked this way for expensive power tools. I don't want permanent drm for tools I just want a one time lock that is forever disabled upon purchase. Perhaps electronically while being purchased.
I can't imagine any of the contractors I've hired successfully navigating the setup for DRM-enabled power tools, let alone the inevitable hiccups when working in unnetworked areas etc. I'm not talking about Harbor Freight scumbags like myself. I'm talking about the valuable trend followers who have a new cordless from Dewalt or Ryobi or Milwaukee every six months and buy more expensive items regularly as well. Those guys cannot handle DRM shenanigans, and will forever despise with a burning passion any firm that inflicts such upon them.
I don't think most people realize how incredibly pervasive theft from construction sites is. Residential / commercial - it doesn't matter. There are organized groups who spend a ton of time and energy breaking into tool lockers or into actual buildings under construction. Work equipment is very expensive, often portable, and has great resale value.
Doesn’t seem like a “one time lock that is forever disabled upon purchase“ would work for your use case. You’d need Apple-style Find My / Brick My stuff.
I'm more thinking about the retail end. Any lock which could be used after purchase is a danger to the users freedom. Although a decentralized solution is certainly possible. For example requiring the tool to talk to the users server I cannot imagine it being practical in the context of users today.