Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

SoylentNews is people

All Drones in U.S. to Require Federal Registration

posted by n1 on Tuesday October 20 2015, @11:20AM   Printer-friendly
from the department-of-droneland-security dept.

takyon writes:

The U.S. Department of Transportation is set to announce plans to require registration for every drone sold:

Have a drone? You're going to have to register it with the U.S. Department of Transportation, according to NBC News.

The federal government will announce a plan within days that will require anyone who buys a drone to register it with the Department of Transportation, NBC reported Friday evening.

A Department of Transportation spokesperson told MarketWatch that U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx and Administrator Michael Huerta of the Federal Aviation Administration will release more details on Monday at 12:30 p.m. Eastern time.

"The hobbyist drone community has self-regulated itself for decades," said Lisa Ellman, co-chair of the unmanned aircraft systems practice at Hogan Lovells, a New York–based law firm. "But with the technology getting so cheap and improving so much, we have more and more drones."

FAA official Rich Swayze said last month that the agency expects that a million drones could be sold this holiday season.

"A lot of people are buying them and thinking they are toys," Ellman said. "They are not toys."

Florida lawyer Jonathan Rupprecht, author of a book on drone law, said he believes any plan centered around drone registration is a necessary first step toward regulating drones but is curious how the regulation will play out and whether the rule will apply to hobbyists with small drones.

Original Submission

 
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
All Drones in U.S. to Require Federal Registration | Log In/Create an Account | Top | 60 comments | Search Discussion
Display Options Threshold/Breakthrough Mark All as Read Mark All as Unread
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.

  • (Score: 2, Disagree) by khallow on Tuesday October 20 2015, @02:22PM

    by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday October 20 2015, @02:22PM (#252304) Journal
    A few regulators, that is. The solution here is not to expect a large group of people to not have idiots, but rather to fix the regulations so that they aren't onerous.
    Starting Score:    1  point
    Moderation   +1  
       Insightful=1, Disagree=1, Total=2
    Extra 'Disagree' Modifier   0  
    Total Score:   2  

  • (Score: 5, Insightful) by Francis on Tuesday October 20 2015, @03:45PM

    by Francis (5544) on Tuesday October 20 2015, @03:45PM (#252338)

    No, it's not the regulators that are the problem here. It's the folks that failed to act responsibly. Right now it isn't yet a huge problem, but waiting as these things get less expensive, more powerful and more common before acting is foolish. It's already going to be hard enough to set up the rules without having to fight with the status quo.

    But, I'm sure it's always the regulators fault...

    • (Score: 4, Insightful) by khallow on Tuesday October 20 2015, @04:55PM

      by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday October 20 2015, @04:55PM (#252369) Journal
      There's always idiots. But we don't always let regulators walk all over us just because there are idiots.

      • (Score: 2) by frojack on Tuesday October 20 2015, @08:09PM

        by frojack (1554) on Tuesday October 20 2015, @08:09PM (#252449) Journal

        Chuckle... khollow acts like we have some control over regulators... how very quaint.

        --
        No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.

        • (Score: 1) by khallow on Tuesday October 20 2015, @10:05PM

          by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday October 20 2015, @10:05PM (#252498) Journal
          And frojack acts like we don't have some control over regulators... though I would consider that more foolish than quaint.