While I agree one should be careful in what is said to law enforcement it is a big misconception that police are strangers to stopping and dealing with vehicles registered to business.

As a former LEO I would estimate that a forth of all the cars I ever stopped in my career didn't belong to the driver of said vehicle. Police stop business owners, rental cars, spouses with different names, friends borrowing vehicles to move furniture, ect everyday of the week and the simple fact the vehicle is registered differently in and of itself doesn't raise any eyebrows.

On simple traffic stops, assuming the vehicle is not reported stolen or there is no probable cause to believe it was just used in the commission of a crime one does not have to prove authorization to operate any vehicle in any state.

Also the police have no right to detain you (or your vehicle) any further simply based on that as they have no way to verify your allowed to operate it or not. All things being normal if they do tow it, seek out a good lawyer as you now have an excellent lawsuit for the police violating your 4th Amendment rights against unlawful search and seizure.

And yes I understand every ones dislike toward law enforcement but no cop worth his salt is going to put himself in danger of a civil action over something so trivial as this.

... Excellent information, Jay. Very much appreciated!

A "bearer" authorization sounds like a good idea, but I agree that the police are going to doubt its authenticity because anyone could type it up. A letterhead document signed by the "president" of the company (who in my case is me, under my pen name) authorizing a specific person, you, to possess the vehicle ought to be sufficient, and will be more trusted because it specifically links you to the car. You're going to be giving the cop your driver's license anyway, so it's going to end up linked to you anyway, though to what extend depends on the department, it's records system, and the offense.

It might also be useful to carry a photocopy of the official NM document to prove that the company actually exists.

You should always have a plausible story worked out in advance. Although I strongly recommend that you NEVER talk to the police, there are some times you have to, and identifying yourself is one of those times. And if you hope to be allowed to proceed, you'll need to prove to the cop's satisfaction that you're authorized to have the vehicle, otherwise they will impound and tow it, and then you're in a pickle trying to get a fictional company executive to come get the car released. That's one downside of titling a car in a company name.

You can, of course, be up front with the registration folks and the police and simply tell them you own the company and title your vehicles in its name for privacy purposes. That's not illegal after all. The benefit of this is that you can have the authorization letter notarized with your signature on it, which adds to its credibility.

If you want to use a nominee as a putative company officer, select him/her carefully, because you'll be giving them legal authority over your vehicle. A family member using a maiden name would be good, or a trusted friend. Just be sure to fill them in on what to do if the cops call for verification of your authority to have the car.

Of course the best plan is to drive carefully and not get stopped....

... I've been stopped several times during the past seven years. In each case, I was asked if I worked for the company [the LLC that owns the car]. Each time I answered, "No, I own the company." No further questions were asked, even though my DL is from one state and the license plates are from another.

The key to the problem is to remain totally calm, respectful, and mention the ownership in a matter-of-fact way, not showing any nervousness. (Why be nervous? You DO own the LLC, right?)

I haven't been able to pursue the Egypt phones myself, but it might be a nice little business for somebody to have Egyptian cell phones sent to them and then resell them to privacy followers. It would be great if you could find a way to verify for sure that each phone was, in fact, lacking GPS.

On a side note, Egypt appears to only have GSM phones (AT&T & T-Mobile). That leaves out phones that can work with Alltel, Verizon (CDMA) & Sprint / Nextel (IDEN). By the way, for deciphering cell phone info, I use phonescoop.com and howardforums.com.

Submitted Link #1: http://www.edibleapple.com/apple-nixes-gps-on-ipho...

A search (on the recommendation of Katherine Albrecht, RFID / Spychips.org, I now use ixquick.com which doesn't track searches like Google) came up with Richard M. Smith as a computer privacy expert and activist. Anybody know anything about him? I extend my appreciation in advance for any advice!

... Pat, I have a source for you BUT ... you chose to not include your e-mail address, so he is unable to contact you! [UPDATE] Pat later sent me his number and I passed it on to my source.

In such situations you have a choice: either find another insurance company that will, after disclosure, insure a vehicle held in an LLC with a personal policy, or pay something extra and have your vehicle commercially insured.

I'm looking into a fleet policy for my vehicles, which may give me comparable rates if I certify that the vehicles will be driven only by drivers over 40 years of age. A fleet policy combined with LLC ownership pretty much completely divorces the vehicle from the individual.

But, be sure to carry a letter of authorization from the LLC that authorizes you, the individual, to possess and use the vehicle along with your other papers, so the police don't seize the vehicle as potentially stolen.

I agree with the comments in #5963. Several years ago, I dumped my incompetent insurance agent. I asked the manager of another office of the same insurance company to recommend his best, most detail-oriented agent, mentioning that it was my intention to transfer all my existing home and car policies to her.

Since then, I've had no troubles with my policies. As recommended by Mr. Luna, my car insurance policy is in the name of "J. Lastname d/b/a Company LLC." My agent became completely satisfied with this setup once I explained to her that the insured vehicle is (a) not used for any business purposes (which would thus require a commercial policy) and (b) titled under the LLC name.

I don't use State Farm. My insurance company does car insurance in 25 states, though, so I know that you can find at least one major insurance company to cooperate. I recommend you find a better agent or a better company.

FOX 26 News tested one such program. It cost $250 and took about ten minutes to install on the target phone.

Once activated, the spyware revealed the calls placed by and received by the phone, listing phone numbers, times, dates and length of each call.

It also logged every text message, both incoming and outgoing.

And it enabled a third party to dial in to the target phone without detection, activating the microphone so the spy could hear everything said in the vicinity, even though the phone itself appeared to be "asleep."

Submitted Link #1: http://www.myfoxhouston.com/dpp/news/weird/090520_...

... Stan, I discussed this in the e-mail that I recently sent out to everyone on my list. (Most are from buyers of e-books or ghost addresses.)

If you are not getting my e-mails (sent every 3 to 5 weeks), let me know.

This is what I've been doing for the last yr. Insurance under my own name car titled with an LLC. Statefarm wants me to title the car under my own name or issue new insurance under the LLC as commercial.