According to Dailytech, in a recent case, a Kentucky man faces up to 10 years in prison for shooting down a drone that was hovering over his backyard. The man claims the drone was flying as close as 10 feet to his daughters while filming them. The man was confronted later by the owner of the drone who dropped some curse words too. The man who shot down the drone faces multiple charges including 2 felonies.
I have to say that while the man who shot the drone could be charged with firing a weapon in a public space/residential area and destruction of property, still there are several things wrong with how this case was handled by the authorities. The owner of the drone was not charged at all with anything. What about trespassing, invasion of privacy and wire-tapping/unauthorized surveillance? The FAA imposed laws that regulate drones permission for national parks and range to airports. I could be wrong but as I closely watched this drones regulations topic I never saw anything regulating proximity to private homes or the ability to constantly monitor someone in their homes. And as with a lot of other new products, they first hit the market and the regulations lag behind. I think that from an ethical standpoint in the world of technology, manufacturers should place more focus on figuring out all that negative impacts of their products or misuses before releasing them without considering their full impact.