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DJI Phantom Drone Now With GPS Blocking
Following the drone crash on the White House lawn, Shenzhen-based DJI has updated its drones to keep this from happening again.
(DGI Phantom 2 test video)
The Shenzhen-based company DJI voluntarily introduced the software update for its “Phantom” series to step up compliance with US Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) rules, which already bars all model aircraft from flying in Washington, spokesman Michael Perry told the South China Morning Post.Perry said some users were not aware of the restrictions by the FAA, which imposes fines of up to US$1,000 on reckless drone flights.
“We’ve just proactively implemented a software-based solution so people who may not know it’s illegal can be warned,” Perry told the Post by phone.
SF writer Keith Laumer had the same idea in his 1965 novel A Plague of Demons:
I nudged the car into motion, steering between the two wide-shouldered, lean-hipped trouble boys. One whipped out a three-inch black disc - a police control-override. A red light blinked on the dash; the car faltered as the external command came to brake.
(Read more about Laumer's police control-override)
More recently, see the Cop Block device from Greg Bear's excellent 2007 novel Quantico:
All cars and trucks in the U.S. were now required to have Cop Block. A patrol car could radio a coded signal that slowed and then shut down the engine. Workarounds were illegal and the fines were expensive, plus real jail time...
I interviewed Bear about his book; see his comments on Cop Block and Quantico.
Via SCMP.
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