Stolen Macbook

So a friend of mine has a macbook, and he is 100% confident in recovering it if it gets stolen. He has a program that takes a picture of the person and then emails him the picture, the location of the laptop, and the IP address it's on. He thinks this means it's completely secure. Me, being a pessimist, thinks that if the person wipes the HD and reinstall macosx without connecting to the internet, it doesn't matter what programs you have installed. Then, unless he tries to get it serviced, the macbook will remain stolen. Who is right?

I'll prove your friend wrong. Where does he live?

You both have valid points.. Depends on the circumstances I suppose?

hes wrong

Well if the dude who steals it knows what they're doing or gives / sells it to someone who knows what they're doing... yeah that won't work.'

Having said that it could work in some cases.