Originally Posted by
AnthonyGA
Just about every home has powerful lasers in it … in CD and DVD players. This is even more true for homes with CD or DVD burners in computers. Both types of lasers are powerful enough to be dangerous to the eyes, and both can be removed and modified into lasers that can be aimed at people and aircraft, unfortunately. A licensing scheme would do nothing to address this problem, although it might serve as a slight deterrent to casual users.
I think you have missed several points in this discussion.
CD and DVD l@sers are still only milliwatt l@sers, and to extract one from a CD or DVD burner, and add the electronics necessary to turn it into a portable l@ser pointer and take it outside, is way beyond the technical knowledge of the pond life that actually perpetrate these attacks.
And why bother, if the "stuff" is still freely available for sale on the internet, eBay or otherwise????
I think you're barking up the wrong tree, even if I freely admit I haven't got a ready-made answer either....
Personally (and it's only me), licensing would go some way, with everything beyond a simple classroom pointer or room measuring device being treated as a deadly weapon, and requiring a license.
But I wonder if repression, with very highly publicised prison sentences, might have more effect? If playing with the latest toy may land you in prison for five years for attemped murder, might most of the chavs think twice? Dunno... what do you think?
CJ