5 ms·

Huh, so if Amazon really wants to start sending out those drones they no longer have any legal hurdles? I expect to hear stories of college kids capturing them

by smtddr 13y ago

Huh, so if Amazon really wants to start sending out those drones they no longer have any legal hurdles? I expect to hear stories of college kids capturing them before EOY.

duaneb 13y ago
I don't think that's a hurdle. I imagine that would be some form of trespassing onto amazon's very expensive property.
- Tyrannosaurs 13y ago
  Yep, and college students have no historical record of law breaking or vandalism in the name of entertainment whatsoever.
  - Crito 13y ago
    Well society hasn't crumbled due to college students wrecking everything yet, so we must have figured out a way to deal with the drunk idiots. Perhaps some variation on the "If they break the law, arrest them for it." technique is being employed...
    - MiguelHudnandez 13y ago
      Plus, colleges need a way to trim the fat, so to speak. To eliminate groups of people that would attempt to steal a machine with a live network connection, GPS, several cameras, and surrounded by rapidly spinning blades. I say that jokingly, but this happened in Iran to a plane operated by the US military. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran%E2%80%93U.S._RQ-170_incident http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran%E2%80%93U.S._RQ-170_incide...
ugexe 13y ago
Im certain amazon is not living under the assumption that people capturing them won't be a problem, and I think its safe to assume they aren't going to release a bunch of easily stolen drones without coming up with a way to make it more difficult (much like the UPS driver who takes the keys out of his otherwise easy-to-steal truck).
robodale 13y ago
Capture, hell - I'd enjoy shooting them down with my Remington 877 Express (with gooseload), or maybe my .243 Ruger rifle....but only if they are hovering.
- gambiting 13y ago
  Finally,a good argument to ban guns in the US /sarcasm
- sogen 13y ago
  Let's create a Meetup for that!
- outworlder 13y ago
  So you go around randomly destroying other people's property?
  - sosborn 13y ago
    That question is as appropriate as "So, you go around randomly trespassing on other people's property?"
    - Crito 13y ago
      I suppose that question prompts the question, "So, do you normally shoot at aircraft that are above your property?"
    - abruzzi 13y ago
      I'm curious what property owners rights will be for private drone overflight. What altitude will they have to be? I also wonder if I put a 70ft radio tower (amateur radio) with guy wires for support, will the amazon drones be smart enough not to run into my equipment when overflying my house.
infruset 13y ago
This could really become a nice sport.
ChikkaChiChi 13y ago
There are many more hurdles that realistically keep Amazon from doing what they said. Multi-tenant housing, people running under landing drones wanting to hit the 'Sue Amazon' lottery, and airspace ownership above private property are just a few of the gigantic hurdles that will take years to sort out. Not to mention the power consumption issue still limits this idea tremendously. At this point, it's just as realistic that Amazon would implement pneumatic tubing to your house as it is that a drone will deliver your soap.
- wiml 13y ago
  Airspace over private property is still public right-of-way. Deliveries by pneumatic tube would be pretty great though.

by smtddr 13y ago

Huh, so if Amazon really wants to start sending out those drones they no longer have any legal hurdles? I expect to hear stories of college kids capturing them before EOY.

duaneb 13y ago

I don't think that's a hurdle. I imagine that would be some form of trespassing onto amazon's very expensive property.

Tyrannosaurs 13y ago
Yep, and college students have no historical record of law breaking or vandalism in the name of entertainment whatsoever.
- Crito 13y ago
  Well society hasn't crumbled due to college students wrecking everything yet, so we must have figured out a way to deal with the drunk idiots. Perhaps some variation on the "If they break the law, arrest them for it." technique is being employed...
  - MiguelHudnandez 13y ago
    Plus, colleges need a way to trim the fat, so to speak. To eliminate groups of people that would attempt to steal a machine with a live network connection, GPS, several cameras, and surrounded by rapidly spinning blades. I say that jokingly, but this happened in Iran to a plane operated by the US military. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran%E2%80%93U.S._RQ-170_incident http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran%E2%80%93U.S._RQ-170_incide...

ugexe 13y ago

Im certain amazon is not living under the assumption that people capturing them won't be a problem, and I think its safe to assume they aren't going to release a bunch of easily stolen drones without coming up with a way to make it more difficult (much like the UPS driver who takes the keys out of his otherwise easy-to-steal truck).

robodale 13y ago

Capture, hell - I'd enjoy shooting them down with my Remington 877 Express (with gooseload), or maybe my .243 Ruger rifle....but only if they are hovering.

gambiting 13y ago
Finally,a good argument to ban guns in the US /sarcasm
sogen 13y ago
Let's create a Meetup for that!
outworlder 13y ago
So you go around randomly destroying other people's property?
- sosborn 13y ago
  That question is as appropriate as "So, you go around randomly trespassing on other people's property?"
  - Crito 13y ago
    I suppose that question prompts the question, "So, do you normally shoot at aircraft that are above your property?"
  - abruzzi 13y ago
    I'm curious what property owners rights will be for private drone overflight. What altitude will they have to be? I also wonder if I put a 70ft radio tower (amateur radio) with guy wires for support, will the amazon drones be smart enough not to run into my equipment when overflying my house.

infruset 13y ago

This could really become a nice sport.

ChikkaChiChi 13y ago

There are many more hurdles that realistically keep Amazon from doing what they said. Multi-tenant housing, people running under landing drones wanting to hit the 'Sue Amazon' lottery, and airspace ownership above private property are just a few of the gigantic hurdles that will take years to sort out. Not to mention the power consumption issue still limits this idea tremendously. At this point, it's just as realistic that Amazon would implement pneumatic tubing to your house as it is that a drone will deliver your soap.

wiml 13y ago
Airspace over private property is still public right-of-way. Deliveries by pneumatic tube would be pretty great though.