As one other Canadian has noted in this thread, this technology has been deployed around the Toronto area for a while and works quite effectively. However, it's not correct for the author to say that Red Light Cameras are going anywhere soon; Toronto is already pushing to use this system instead. Some basic math can tell you that a driver who makes it between an on-ramp and an off-ramp in less than the maximum legal time it should take to travel that distance is speeding - the Ontario Parliament is already taking steps to use this to bill speeders instead of red light cameras because of the significantly higher volume on the highways as well as the dual usage of billing people for the toll road. It's a great system for raising funds for the repair bill of a road that's used often, but it will start to replace frequently sympathetic traffic cops with a trial-less ticket mailed to your door sooner than you think.

Google will never have the problem Cringley is talking about because of their famed "20% Time" or "Friday's To Yourself" policy. The itch of wanting to start a small project on your own is entirely satisfied at Google because they let you do it on your own time without having to worry about annoying your boss.

Take GMail. A pet project, at least initially, by all accounts. A motivated employee got together a small group of other employees, and used their 20% to create the code base for GMail. Today it is one of their most successful programs. The entire entrepreneurial process is internalized, because it's way less expensive to use Google's capital, employees and name than it is to start your own company.

S.