Not trying to minimize the "crime" but everyone has awaked to find a dozen cars on their street with shattered windows from break-ins. Several houses get hit with graffiti by kids who target the block with toilet paper and juveniles have been known to drive around the neighborhood with bb guns shooting at plate glass, mail boxes, and anything that looks like a target. Nobody sees who done it whether they drive by in their car, walk/run on foot at night, or in this case they fly am FPV drone which likely means there less damage that could be done (only so much payload).
I think people are more afraid of this because such an attack you gotta make it count so the material is unlikely to be "paint" and based on the movies we've all seen, has to be anthrax or something worthwhile which means the flyer (who gets to remain out of sight and not exposed to the materials....this makes it easier to surmise the attack is super harmful and this is the stuff of terrorism because we all know it's coming we just don't know when). I would much rather an FPV drone attack my residence at night rather than a drive-by in a car. But in my book, this is all vandalism unless motive and intent otherwise is evident (such as a hate crime or threats) or someone is targeted.
Given there are prior incidents, isn't this the best candidate for remote ID? Or is remote ID broadcast only for the honest citizens flying the legal drones? Perhaps any change to the law would be *all* drones are required to have remote ID regardless of weight. Harassment usually has to be repeated (in a certain timeframe) and unwanted (where there is some sort of relationship like a neighbor, co-worker, your elected official, your ex) and illegal actions (something that you are not allowed to do).
Either way there's no need to create new laws for drones doing things that are already illegal. My fear would be things that are currently legal becoming outlawed if you use a drone to do it. If you use a drone to spray paint a building on the 20th floor, how is that different than walking up to a building and spraying the 1st floor? Yeah it's harder to clean so the [obscene] message will last longer and it's shocking (because people are used to seeing graffiti on buildings that people can reach not up high in out of reach places) but for me, that's not a good reason for one crime to be a misdemeanor and the other a felony. Needs to be based on the amount of damage and perhaps the content of the message. Too many "drone crimes" will eventually translate into "flying a drone is a crime."
kitchener.ctvnews.ca
