[Travis McGee]

Thanks for the info. The commercial implications alone could be vast!

Pablo Escobar's trackers experienced the same frustrations trying to track him in large cities: they would end up tracking ghosts and reflections and multiple readings.

[Myrddin]

The Brits are discussing the possiblity of assessing motorists a "usage fee" based on the number of miles traveled and WHERE those miles are traveled. They want to cut traffic congestion in metropolitan areas without penalizing drivers in rural areas that don't have a congestion problem. They are considering using GPS to maintain a track log that can be analyzed and "priced" according to the impact of the driving. Cars equipped with OnStar or Wingcast equipment have a cell phone and a GPS onboard. Both types of equipment can be remotely queried for current and recent GPS positions via the cell phone interface. The "in-car" electronics is almost ready to support what the Brits are contemplating. What they haven't anticipated is the massive costs of the airtime and server systems to gather the data. It's not insignificant. In all probability, the "government" will charge you for the airtime and processing expense incurred to "track" you for their benefit. If not directly, then via high income taxes.