Kentucky Man Shoots Down Drone - Kudos to Him!

And at a time when the phone companies and the NSA have been monitoring your phone conversations, when computer hackers are trying to steal your identity, when grocery stores track which brands of cereal you buy, when internet search engines and retailers spy on your browsing habits, people are just getting plain fed up.

(Wm. Merideth image from cnet.com)

So when William Merideth of Hillview, Kentucky saw a drone hovering over his back yard yesterday, it may not have been too surprising that he decided to take matters into his own hands and shoot it down. And we don't see how anyone really can blame him.

Whether the drone's handlers were just innocently taking photos of a neighbor's house, as they say they were doing, we can't say. In the absence of any further evidence, though, it also might be that Mr. Merideth's fears were correct: the drone's handlers may have been spying on his daughter sunbathing in the back yard or maybe they were nosing around for something to steal. Regardless, if you put up a privacy fence (as Mr. Merideth reportedly had) and some nosy Parker still tries to stick his nose in where it doesn't belong, then no one should be surprised if there are some consequences.

Now, maybe Mr. Merideth went a little too far. Maybe he should have taken a photo, called the police, and filed a complaint. And if any of the rounds he fired ended up doing damage to innocent people or their property, then he should be prepared to take appropriate responsibility for his actions.

But we bet that people will think twice before flying a drone in the vicinity of his back yard again.