4 ms·

The argument of stealing a package is no different than following around UPS trucks to steal them.

itchitawa 13y ago
Yes. There's not much to this article. Same goes for a kid shooting it. It would just like a kid shooting a car or a person. The law provides protection. I suspect regulation will be the biggest obstacle - as it already is in the US.
- joosters 13y ago
  Actually, this article spotted the real story here. It's just PR for Amazon, and very well timed PR at that.
SandB0x 13y ago
Except you'd also have to deal with the delivery driver. It's valid to observe that a bored kid may not think much of shooting down a small unmanned quadrotor, whereas they might not be so keen to attack a delivery man or a car containing a delivery man.
- dangrossman 13y ago
  You wait until the driver leaves. It's safer than stealing from a drone; someone buying air delivery is probably home and might catch you in the act. If the UPS driver left a package at the door and nobody came out for it, the recipient's probably not home.
  - SandB0x 13y ago
    That's why they don't just leave packages on the street, at least not any package I've had delivered by courier in the UK. You have to sign for it otherwise it goes back to the depot and they leave you a note.
    - dangrossman 13y ago
      Must be regional. Whether a signature is required is up to the shipper, and Amazon generally doesn't request one. You could follow a UPS driver around in the US and pick up boxes from in front of doors all day. There are 1700 YouTube videos called "UPS package thief".
      - SandB0x 13y ago
        Interesting, thanks for the correction. I don't think the handover issue is a fundamental problem with the drones though. For example you could receive an automated phone call to let you know the package is hovering above your house. If you're ordering something to be delivered in 30 minutes you're probably going to be there to receive it. But I still see theft in transit as an issue. The moral/mental threshold is surely much lower for shooting down a mechanical fly than it is for raiding a van.
        mtrimpe 13y ago
        The threshold for destroying a device costing several thousand dollar which is actively having its location monitored? If a police car is nearby it could be on the scene before the drone even hits the ground and having a few stories of parents getting a giant bill might do the trick.
        jsmcgd 13y ago
        Also I would imagine that the drone could be transmitting a live video feed. Anyone trying to steal/attack the drone would be recorded trying to do so.
      - ygra 13y ago
        In Germany it's normal that you have to sign for your packages and I'm not aware that there is an option not to do that. That being said, some delivery people simply dump the package in front of my flat and shipment tracking says I (who wasn't home) signed for it. And of course the fun of living in a dorm with 120 people and the illegible signature (are there others?) and you don't know who it belongs to (because the slip of paper in your mailbox just says "delivered to neighbour").
  - waterlesscloud 13y ago
    People are missing that this is "30 minutes or less" delivery, which you're only going to do if you're there.
- swalsh 13y ago
  Except that it might be considered a federal crime? If I shot down a manned airplane, wouldn't the consequences be severe?

Yes. There's not much to this article. Same goes for a kid shooting it. It would just like a kid shooting a car or a person. The law provides protection. I suspect regulation will be the biggest obstacle - as it already is in the US.

joosters 13y ago
Actually, this article spotted the real story here. It's just PR for Amazon, and very well timed PR at that.

SandB0x 13y ago

Except you'd also have to deal with the delivery driver. It's valid to observe that a bored kid may not think much of shooting down a small unmanned quadrotor, whereas they might not be so keen to attack a delivery man or a car containing a delivery man.

dangrossman 13y ago
You wait until the driver leaves. It's safer than stealing from a drone; someone buying air delivery is probably home and might catch you in the act. If the UPS driver left a package at the door and nobody came out for it, the recipient's probably not home.
- SandB0x 13y ago
  That's why they don't just leave packages on the street, at least not any package I've had delivered by courier in the UK. You have to sign for it otherwise it goes back to the depot and they leave you a note.
  - dangrossman 13y ago
    Must be regional. Whether a signature is required is up to the shipper, and Amazon generally doesn't request one. You could follow a UPS driver around in the US and pick up boxes from in front of doors all day. There are 1700 YouTube videos called "UPS package thief".
    - SandB0x 13y ago
      Interesting, thanks for the correction. I don't think the handover issue is a fundamental problem with the drones though. For example you could receive an automated phone call to let you know the package is hovering above your house. If you're ordering something to be delivered in 30 minutes you're probably going to be there to receive it. But I still see theft in transit as an issue. The moral/mental threshold is surely much lower for shooting down a mechanical fly than it is for raiding a van.
      - mtrimpe 13y ago
        The threshold for destroying a device costing several thousand dollar which is actively having its location monitored? If a police car is nearby it could be on the scene before the drone even hits the ground and having a few stories of parents getting a giant bill might do the trick.
        jsmcgd 13y ago
        Also I would imagine that the drone could be transmitting a live video feed. Anyone trying to steal/attack the drone would be recorded trying to do so.
    - ygra 13y ago
      In Germany it's normal that you have to sign for your packages and I'm not aware that there is an option not to do that. That being said, some delivery people simply dump the package in front of my flat and shipment tracking says I (who wasn't home) signed for it. And of course the fun of living in a dorm with 120 people and the illegible signature (are there others?) and you don't know who it belongs to (because the slip of paper in your mailbox just says "delivered to neighbour").
- waterlesscloud 13y ago
  People are missing that this is "30 minutes or less" delivery, which you're only going to do if you're there.
swalsh 13y ago
Except that it might be considered a federal crime? If I shot down a manned airplane, wouldn't the consequences be severe?