A gadget that foils red light cameras? But is it legal?

Wired and Slate have posted articles this week about “NoPhoto” — a device which looks like a license plate cover but contains a powerful light that activates when a red light camera tries to snap a photo of your plate.  According to Slate, it “senses and responds to the bright flash of a traffic camera with a flash of its own, shrouding your plate number in white light at the moment the camera takes its picture. NoPhoto is designed to be triggered only by red-light cameras, which seems like a key feature ”

The cost is $350, a little more than the cost of one red light camera ticket.

But, is it legal in Illinois?

I say no.

Under the Motor Vehicle Code, any “object” that is “designed to distort a recorded image of any of the characters of a motor vehicle’s registration plate recorded by…