AUGUSTA (AP) – Maine has put up a “keep out” sign for a high-tech version of hunting in which computers and cameras are used to kill animals from remote locations.

Gov. John Baldacci has signed a bill to ban remote-control hunting, in which clients hook up online to a set of cameras at a ranch, then sight game and fire a rifle. The bill, which was signed Tuesday and takes effect 90 days after the close of the current session, will make remote operations targeting game or birds in Maine locations illegal.

By enacting the ban, Maine joins other states that are outlawing high-tech innovations which game managers say give hunters an undue advantage. Maine’s law is pre-emptive, since there are no remote-hunting locations in the state.

Legislatures around the country took action after a San Antonio entrepreneur created a Web site designed to let hunters shoot exotic game animals or feral pigs on his private hunting ranch by remote control, with the click of a mouse, from anywhere in the world.

Last week, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission voted to ban remote game hunting. A new regulation the commission approved also requires that anyone hunting a game animal or bird be physically present and in control of the firearm.

The Texas Legislature also is considering a law that would prohibit the killing of any animal when the shooter is not physically present. California and Wisconsin legislatures have also taken up bills to ban remote hunting.

The Texas businessman who promoted remote hunting, John Lockwood, sees it as a way to enable disabled hunters and service personnel overseas to hunt. But the idea has raised ethical questions as well as law enforcement concerns.

Rep. Roderick Carr, R-Lincoln, sponsored the bill signed by Baldacci. His bill had support of animal welfare as well as hunting groups.