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Re: Believe it or not!
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> From: Tesla List <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com>
> To: tesla-at-pupman-dot-com
> Subject: Re: Believe it or not!
> Date: Saturday, November 06, 1999 3:31 PM
>
> Original Poster: Jim DeLillo <jimdel-at-bellatlantic-dot-net>
>
> Autoracing kills more professional performers than I can count and they
> don't ban
> that.
There is a lot of money to be made and spent in the auto racing business
(Witness the comment from Honda, which, when announcing a few years back
that their revenues were down that they would transfer 10% of the engineers
off their Formula I division, and that about 1200 engineers would be
moved...). NASCAR is essentially rolling billboards ("Win on Sunday, Sell
on Monday")
Such large expenditures provide a large incentive to not overregulate. The
TC (or HV tinkering) business, on the other hand, does not contribute
significantly to the public welfare, and so, if it were to be regulated
heavily, there wouldn't be negative repercussions to society.
I might add that professionals, such as Jeff P., have nothing to worry
about. a) The entertainment industry is notoriously under-regulated with
respect to safety; b) Permanent and/or professional installations SHOULD be
designed with safety in mind, and I cannot conceive of any safety
regulations that would prohibit TC's per se. This is what being
professional is all about. We used to do incredibly hazardous things with
fire and explosives on set and stage, and mostly it devolves to convincing
the Fire Safety Officer that you know what you are doing and that you've
made appropriate precautions.
As for amateur fooling around... What sort of specific laws were you
thinking might be enacted? A rule against doing dangerous things in a
careless manner? (they already exist) A rule against having HV components?
(pretty tough to justify.. how would you define the class of prohibited
components?) Against RF emissions? (already got those, FCC and others).
Tesla coils are down in the noise level of a problem, and not worthy of
legislators attention.
Such laws as might be enacted generally have some legitimate basis in
public safety. I can't emit neutron beams from my garage and endanger my
neighbors, etc. I can't smoke in my office because there is a legitimate
concern for the health of visitors and other employees.