The alleged theft of marketing material uncomplimentary to hyperconverged heavyweight Nutanix appears to have become a cold case.

As reported by The Register at VMworld 2017, hyperconverged contender Maxta printed badges bearing the motto “You can't have it your way with Nutanix” and stored them in private areas of its stand at the exhibition running alongside VMware's conference. The company alleged that 200 of the badges were removed from the stand by parties unknown.

Maxta therefore sought CCTV footage of the exhibition floor. The company that runs VMworld security took the request seriously enough to approach the venue, Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino. In correspondence seen by The Register Mandalay Bay staff say “Video of the incident area was not available due to camera/equipment malfunction”.

VMworld's security firm was also told that security footage “is proprietary to Mandalay Bay” and cannot be viewed by third parties.

Maxta tells us it was also given the “proprietary” excuse.

The Register asked two security executives at Mandalay Bay and the media relations team of its parent company MGM Resorts to explain the circumstances under which it would share video with an organisation that participated in an event at the venue. None have replied to our questions at the time of writing.

It's richly ironic that CCTV failed to work at an exhibition that hosts as big a collection of storage and security vendors as you're likely to find together at one place and at one time. It's also odd that Mandalay Bay's video cameras and recorders went down – perhaps it saves the reliable surveillance kit for spotting naughtiness on the the gaming floor.

The only fact of which The Register feels certain is that whatever happened in Vegas on this occasion will stay in Vegas. ®