It would still be quite easy to come up with a serial number that looks valid but is actually fake. All I need to do is change the month portion of the serial number and then fiddle actual unit number. You would need the big list of valid serial numbers from empeg. That would prevent somebody from trying to make up a valid looking serial number.

It's a good idea but it's just too difficult to implement properly given the simplistic nature of the serial numbers and the low number of registrations. Anybody with the motivation to actually change the serial number on the box will be more than able to plug random numbers into the registry or look it up on the mars.org list.

- Trevor