Domestic drone use presents a variety of problems, from worries about privacy and pervasive surveillance, to fears of public safety and concerns about how a crowded airspace may change life on the ground. But one new idea raises another potential concern: what happens when people start using drones to fight drones?

That is the concept behind the new startup Rapere, which has created a drone that can be used to track, locate and disable other drones. The Rapere is designed for a short flight time (the company says it is intended to be used for two minutes, as opposed to the normal drone flight time of 15 minutes) to maximize its speed, and uses 12 high framerate cameras to track drones in the nearby vicinity. Once deployed, the drone hovers over the other drone in its range and drops a piece of rope, which will tangle in the target drone’s rotors, disabling it.

Rapere is only at the prototype stage at the moment, so details on how it actually operates are sparse (the company’s own site contains only animations of the way it works, and fails to illustrate what happens between the rope being dropped and the target drone being on the ground). However, this idea seems to present several immediate concerns. On the one hand, if the Rapere simply drops rope into the rotors of another drone, it is likely to result in that drone crashing to the ground, potentially causing serious injuries or property damage. On the other, if the Rapere somehow captures the target drone, there are obvious problems related to the taking of another’s property, and the criminal and civil charges that can result from that.

This technology is but one idea for how drones could be used to combat drones, and whether it will ever see market is unclear. Yet what it represents is another new frontier that drones policy will have to confront as domestic airspace makes room for drones. More drones in the sky will come with more opposition to their use — and for every advance in drone technology on the domestic front, there will likely be movement to counteract the use of drones in areas opponents do not want them. There are plenty of potential solutions, from establishing “no drone” zones to creating anti-drone mechanisms that more effectively prevent drones from invading privacy. Yet Rapere demonstrates the dangers this market may present as people work out how to avoid unwanted drones, and the lengths some may go to feel secure in their own homes and in public.