Unpaid bills? Good luck starting future laptops

NEW YORK (AP) ? People who get a cheap laptop with wireless access could someday find themselves with a dead weight on their hands if they skip out on their bills.

LM Ericsson AB, a Swedish company, says that a wireless carrier will be able to shut down a laptop remotely if it's equipped with one of Ericsson's new modems.

AT&T has started subsidizing small modem-equipped laptops sold at RadioShack, in return for the customer signing up for wireless broadband for $60 per month for two years. But if a customer doesn't pay, AT&T has little recourse.

It's unlikely that a carrier would have the stomach to send what Ericsson calls a "kill pill" to a deadbeat's laptop, but the technology can also help secure corporate data if a laptop is stolen.