I know that Dell in particular can set a password on the BIOS that is extremely non-trivial to bypass. Other hardware makers probably offer similar functionali

I know that Dell in particular can set a password on the BIOS that is extremely non-trivial to bypass. Other hardware makers probably offer similar functionality. Taking this a step further and allowing this to be set from the running OS could be possible, thus effectively bricking the computer (barring access to hardware support channels, but you registered your computer anyway, didn't you?)