The California legislature recently considered a law (it apparently died in committee this year) which would mandate that all cars in the state be fitted with a device, which upon recieving an encrypted signal by laser or radio, would kill the engine. The apparent goal is to prevent car chases. The, bill, introduced by (State?) Senator Speier, is at http://info.sen.ca.gov/pub/bill/sen/sb_2001-2050/sb_2004_bill_20000504_amend ed_sen.html There is substantial discussion at http://www.technocrat.net/968678895/index_html The bill requires that cars sold in the state after 2004 have the system, and cars registered after 2007 be retrofitted if neccessary. It would be a crime to fail to fit or maintain it, or to bypass it. It includes a provision to allow any peace officer to stop any car at any time to inspect the system, without any mention of warrants or probable cause. I may write something for RISKS Digest about this. Peter Trei