What is the proposed usage for these drones if I may ask? I don't want to be a pessimist but if these drones are supposed to be transporting anything of value wouldn't that encourage shooting these things out of the sky?
I can see this being used for items with value high enough to justify the drone delivery costs (say, > $20) but not too high to the point where having a drone deliver it would be too risky.
The exact values are certainly being worked out by actuarial scientists. There will be some sort of insurance involved, inside the delivery cost.
Even if the urban delivery application doesn't materialize in the near future, I see this being very useful in a rural setting. Or to deliver emergency supplies to hard to reach locations.
At least, over here in Norway, I don't see how this could be a problem, unless drones can be shot down by BB-guns.
I'm not saying you can't shoot these things down, but people that think it will be easy have a lot to learn about this technology. Also, when people shoot up in the air, there are often unintended victims when the bullets come down.
Like pizza?
Pizza delivery drivers are regularly robbed, not for any cash they may be carrying but for the pizza.
RE Shoot downs : Retrieval becomes difficult if the product is fragile as well. I imagine these devices will contain some sort of distress beacon and/or continuous transmission of its coordinates to a base station.
400 Feet (approx. 122 meters) is the current altitude limit in the US, I think. Birdshot is inaccurate at that distance and it's quite a height to try and shoot at relatively fast drone with a rifle. This is in addition to the fact firing recklessly into the air carries hefty penalties alone.
I recently saw this : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MTSWjkXBHOs While it's very primitive and inspired by a video game, future developments may lead to water canons and so on that may do the same. A DIY anti-drone turret if you will.