Slashdot Mirror
High-Voltage Fences For Zapping Would-Be Copper Thieves
coondoggie writes "It may be a gimmick or the ultimate answer, but a California city this week okay-ed a draft ordinance that would let businesses install 7,000-volt electric fences to protect sites from rampant copper thieves. As reported by the Sacramento CBS station, the reaction from one business owner to the ordinance says it all: 'It'll be a little fun to watch one of these guys get electrocuted holding my fence trying to rob me.'"
Start making the recyclers who pay cash for copper keep records and start prosecuting them for receiving stolen goods.
So you would punish the innocent with more paperwork and regulations along with the guilty? That doesn't sound very appealing to me. Besides, it's not like thieves wouldn't lie anyways, which would give the recyclers who take stolen goods plausible deniability.
"None can love freedom heartily, but good men; the rest love not freedom, but license." --John Milton
Just so you know, Mythbusters busted that myth.
But keep telling the story.
if a police get a report of a house that had a crapton of copper tubing ripped out of the walls and floors, and then discover a crapload of copper tubing just happened to be sold to a scrap dealer shortly thereafter... it's not exactly a convoluted path to draw a line between the two
Do you have any idea of the volume of metal that gets recycled? In fact within a week there might be 30 guys with a "crapton of metal tubing" and yes in fact it WOULD be a convoluted path to figure out what came from where.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
If you don't want to participate in society, then you aren't getting the benefits of society.
Bow to our every command, or be outcast!
Maybe we can solve the 'malware' and 'hacking' problem with similar measures.
Require all software to be digitally signed to make it possible to run on computers. Issue government licenses to people who are allowed to use a compiler and the tool that digitally signs code.
Not a lot different. But sanctimonious slashdotters would sure squeal loudly.