I’ve seen a number of posting recently regarding licensing your bike. Mostly these are communities trying to impose a registration fee. Sometimes it goes the other way. Communities are dropping the license and registration requirement because they cost more to issue, store, and maintain than they bring in in fees. They are often unenforceable. Do the cops really have time to chase down your stolen bike let alone chase you down because you didn’t register?
Apparently in high density bike population areas like college campuses in California, registration is a good idea. Here’s another good idea. A world bike registration website where you can register you bike and components and search to see if that bike you’re about to buy is actually stolen.
This could be worthwhile if everybody used this site. You can even generate a barcode sticker for your bike which warns thieves the bike has been registered.–Corrie
MyBikeNumber.com
Corrie maintains the 
In The Spin 