"Great, they finally invented the neuronic whip"

[threemonkeys]

I find the implications of the technology described in this article very disturbing. The development of an effective non-lethal crowd control device would lead to the effective ending of public political protest. This paragraph from the article sums up my misgivings:

The development of a truly safe and highly effective nonlethal crowd-control system could raise enormous ethical questions about the state's use of coercive force. If a method such as ADS leads to no lasting injury or harm, authorities may find easier justifications for employing them.

Comments

[threemonkeys.livejournal.com]

So how long will it take for this to be available as hand held technology?

Judging by the pictures of the prototypes, it will be portable from the get-go. It should take as long to go from "official" hands to a wider audience about the same time as tazers took. Actually, in this country people had tazers years before the police had them. Scary huh?