Before anything, I think that it's great that a evidence of purchase is required. It's pretty logical to try to protect an unlucky user whose phone was stolen.

However, there are many people, like me, who bought their phone second hand, and the previous user had NO IDEA that the lock code cannot be reset by flashing the phone. It's very usual for Nokia devices to return to their 12345 after a device hard reset. This is not the case for the N900.

So, what proof can a second-hand user bring? There is no receipt, because the phone is a second-hand, purchased from an end-user, who cannot issue receipts. I doubt you'd accept warranty certificates, and even these have no value, if not accompanied by a receipt. Should I show you my bank account statement, to see when I withdrew the cash for buying the N900 from that user? Even that would be useless, because I could've easily used the money elsewere.

The fact is, us second-hand N900 buyers cannot bring any proof of buying the device, and not stealing it. But the fact that we have bothered to register to this site and tried to find answers should maybe be a start to gain credibilty? If we begin to have activity, it should also count.

Anyway, I'm not in this case of having to "beg" someone to do smth for me. Or to prove anything to anyone. I've managed to reset the lock-code by myself. It was not that complicated, I found pertinent information in this thread, followed the steps and... voila ! I guess that the potential "N900 stealers" could do the same if they did know how. I wouldn't know how a stealer's mind works, but I, for one, wouldn't want to keep a stolen device. I'd just sell it. Again, hypothetically speaking! )