ROBOTS: Laws stifle innovation

These newly proposed laws regulating robotics are going to stifle growth in the robotics industry.

Far from showing people that Coeur d’Alene is on the “cutting edge of robotics,” (as the Mayor said ), instead these dumb laws show everyone who actually knows anything about robotics (unlike the men who made up these laws) that Cd’A is going to regulate, license (charge money for) and use random laws to keep innovation down.

Who would want to bring their robotics company to the one city in the USA that has these laws?

There are already laws in place that say we can’t kill or harm or spy on other people. It doesn’t matter how you do it, by using a gun or a periscope or a robot. Why regulate the tool?

And that ridiculous licensing law that robots weighing 100 pounds or more will have to pay a licensing fee. It’s like these guys watched The Terminator movies from the 1990s and are imagining human-sized robots walking around doing stuff, LOL! I saw a video of a quadcopter defense robot equipped with a surveillance camera and machine gun that was very effective and couldn’t have weighed more than 10 pounds.

In short, the Cd’A lawmakers are making fools of themselves. If they want publicity and to bring the robotics industry to Cd’A, they should offer a tax-haven environment or incentives. That will bring the tech industry — not random regulations. Idaho of all places should know that!

S. BRODSKY

Kootenai County