Originally Posted by
kickstart
That raises some interesting questions.
If there's an unwelcome drone or photographer on ones property, is it a criminal action to turn on ones sprinkler system to encourage their departure, knowing it may damage the camera or drone?
Would I no longer have the right to throw a ball, spray water from a hose, fly my drone, or any other legal activity I would normally do in my own yard if someone decided to fly a drone there?
Let's say someone was walking up to your front door and you turned on your sprinklers, soaking them. If they happened to have a laptop, or a camera, cell phone, etc, that was damaged in the process, would the homeowner be liable? I'm guessing that plausible deniability would be the homeowner's best defense, saying that they didn't realize the person was on their property. But if the homeowner knew that the person was there and intentionally turned on the sprinkler, who knows how the police, D.A., judge, or jury might view that behavior? I'm wondering if there is a legal precedent for this situation. Perhaps playing baseball or kickball would be safer legally because 1) there's no guarantee that the drone would be damaged vs. turning the sprinkler on, and 2) the drone operator would be able to see what's going on, either by line of sight, or by the drone camera, and decide whether he wants to maintain close proximity to a game of baseball.