
Navy Drone Wanders Into Restricted Airspace Around Washington - ph0rque
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/26/us/26drone.html?_r=3&partner=rss&emc=rss
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chopsueyar
I think it is cool that it is semi-autonomous.

I don't think it is cool that the US military is using it for law enforcement
operations in Central America.

Can't wait until the US starts blanketing various countries with drones.
Excellent precedent.

~~~
Estragon
I understand Foucault observed that imperial countries tended to bring their
methods of colonial control back to control their home populations, in a sense
colonizing themselves. Similarly, it seems like it's only a matter of time
before this ubiquitous surveillance and automated enforcement are used in
developed, democratic countries.

~~~
simonsarris
Well the British Empire isn't exactly as large as it was in its imperial days
but London could be fairly accurately described as ubiquitously surveillanced,
perhaps moreso with CCTV than mere (ha) UAVs would allow, since the CCTV cams
permeate urban canopies (buildings).

~~~
GFischer
I was impressed (not in a good way) by this news:

[http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/08/24/web-used-to-
trac...](http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/08/24/web-used-to-track-woman-
who-binned-cat/)

CCTVs seem to be quite ubiquitous indeed.

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drtse4
Additional info on The Register: <http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1635807>

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daychilde
Reminds me of an episode of Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex...

~~~
mikemol
You're thinking of 2nd Gig.

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Semiapies
Unmentioned in this story: what _happened_ when a low-flying aircraft entered
restricted airspace around DC? Did they already know it was this wayward
drone, either by transponder or the drone's ground crew informing them?

~~~
Poiesis
Actually, this question was addressed by the best line in the story: _The Navy
did not describe the scene inside the ground station as operators sought to
re-establish control with the drone._

~~~
Semiapies
The ground station was where the operators were controlling (or not, as it
happened) the drone from. It wasn't the place air traffic was being monitored
or where reactions to a blip in restricted airspace would be determined.

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tomjen3
I wonder, how much damage could you actually do with that drone? I mean, if it
isn't armed then there isn't much too this story - failures happen all the
time.

~~~
martey
A 600 lb helicopter landing on your house would do significant amounts of
damage.

~~~
billswift
Depends on how concentrated the weight is and how hard it hits. Most roofs can
handle a bunch of 200 pound roofers working on them, or tons of snow, without
any difficulty.

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maushu
And so skynet begins.

I, for one, welcome our new robot overlords.

~~~
hammmatt
Funny joke.

But I'm pretty sure this reinforces how far away our robot overlords still
remain.

