Originally published March 21 2013
Upcoming technology would let citizens buy drone countermeasures that interfere with drone missions
by J. D. Heyes
(NaturalNews) In physics, there is an axiom that goes something like this: For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. The same principle can be applied to virtually every other aspect of life, including issues dealing with freedom and liberty.
As more and more Americans become concerned about the potential constitutional abuse that could be heaped on society by thousands of unmanned aerial vehicles the Federal Aviation Administration appears set on approving for use over American skies by police, federal agencies and even some universities, one company in Oregon is not waiting around for Congress to rediscover the Constitution's Fourth Amendment privacy protections.
Rather, this firm is going to be proactive, and give Americans a chance to curb the potential for abuse before it even begins.
The company, Domestic Drone Countermeasures, says it has developed, and will soon begin selling, technology that disables drones, U.S. News & World Report said.
The tech firm was founded in February because some of its engineers view UAVs - which are already in use by police may soon be in wider use if the FAA approves commercial uses for drones by 2015, when the agency is set to unveil new rules governing drones - as little more than privacy violation devices.
'They will be unable to complete their mission'
"I was personally concerned and I think there's a lot of other people worried about this," Timothy Faucett, a lead engineer on the project, told the magazine. "We've already had many inquiries, a lot of people saying, 'Hey, I don't want these drones looking at me.'"
The company was formed as a spin-off from Aplus Mobile, which markets and sells tough computer processors to defense contractors; the company would not discuss its specific technology because it is currently applying for a number of patents. Faucett goes on to say that work has helped the company develop its anti-drone technology.
According to the report, Domestic Drone Countermeasures plans to sell land-based boxes that are "non-offensive, non-combative and not destructive." The company further states that "drones will not fall from the sky, but they will be unable to complete their missions."
Without discussing specifics, Faucett said the boxes will not interfere with a drone's nav system, and that the technology doesn't involve "jamming of any kind." Rather, he says the company's technology is "an adaptation of something that could be used for military application" with the "combat element replaced with a nondestructive element."
"We understand the nature of the equipment drone manufacturers are using and understand how to counter their sensors," he told the magazine. "We're not going to be countering Predator drones that are shooting cruise missiles, but we're talking about local law enforcement drones and commercial ones that people might be using for spying."
Hat tip to Rand Paul
At present, Faucett admits that the technology will be "expensive," but his company is ready to design custom anti-drone boxes for clients.
"We envision it could be cheap enough for residential use very soon," he said. "It's quite possible to deploy it if you were shooting a movie and wanted to protect your set, or if you had a house in Malibu and wanted to protect that, we could deploy it there. If a huge company like Google wanted to protect its server farms, it can be scaled up for a larger, fixed installation."
Drones are going to become more commonplace, as Natural News has reported. Faucett says as they do, Americans will want to find ways to maintain their privacy.
"The thing that brought it home for me was Senator [Rand] Paul doing the filibuster, there's a lot of unanswered questions," he said. "We think there might be as much business for this counter drone stuff as there is for the drones themselves."
Sources:
http://www.usnews.com
http://www.naturalnews.com/drones.html
http://www.mysanantonio.com
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