SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
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.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by bradley13 on Tuesday October 20 2015, @03:43PM
A federal license for, basically, a toy. A tool, if you prefer. This is another typical example of "pre-crime" [wikipedia.org] regulation: because someone, somewhere might commit a crime with a drone (you know, like actually injuring someone), we have to have laws and regulations that prohibit the behavior that might even lead to that crime. And more regulations that prohibit behavior that might lead to behavior that might lead to a crime.
Somewhere I recently read that, in the US, regulations are created at a rate of 18,000 pages per...I think it was per year. The Department of Transportation has just made it's modest contribution. What's crazy is that these bureaucracies can attach criminal penalties to their regulations, without any review by an elected legislature. The old book, Three Felonies a Day, is surely outdated by now. How many felonies have you unknowingly committed today, by violating regulations you didn't know existed? Have you filed your federally mandated disaster plan for your rabbit [washingtonpost.com]?
Big government lets petty bureaucrats build their little empires. It surely doesn't serve the actual purposes of government.
Everyone is somebody else's weirdo.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 20 2015, @04:24PM
Why do you point at the "petty bureaucrats"? What empires can they build? They are not law makers, they are the ones who are tasked with carrying out the laws. The reason you need to fill out a form 27B/6 is because of some yet new wrinkle in the law that gets passed down. An onerous Byzantine system gets put in place because of the lawmakers.
Why are you so gullible that you let the lawmakers grandstand about red tape when they are the ones who put it in place? They serve you up a nice cliché scapegoat and you fall for it every time.
(Score: 4, Informative) by bradley13 on Tuesday October 20 2015, @05:04PM
That's the point: they are not lawmakers. But Congress has given their agencies the authority to write regulations, so they do.
What empires can they build? You clearly haven't worked for the government. You want your position to be upgraded? Then you need to justify more people and a bigger budget. One way to do that is to expand the programs that you are in charge of. It's hard to steal programs from other people, so the best way is to create a new program. For example, create an entirely new licensing regime. That will require a new IT infrastructure, thousands of pages of regulations, and a whole raft of additional employees to run it - jackpot!
This is what Pournelle's Iron Law [wikipedia.org] is all about: in any bureaucracy, ambitious people want to enhance their personal positions. If that happens to involve doing something useful for the public, that's a happy coincidence, but it's not a priority. Consider: what penalty does the IRS, the TSA, or any other government agency suffer, if it mistreats the public? On the other hand, new programs and regulations increase an agency's reach and power. It's obvious where you want to invest your time...
I used to work for the US federal government. I've seen it in action.
Everyone is somebody else's weirdo.
(Score: 2) by DeathMonkey on Tuesday October 20 2015, @05:55PM
someone, somewhere might commit a crime with a drone (you know, like actually injuring someone)
The injuries are already happening. This example being particularly amusing. [theblaze.com]
(Score: 2) by Translation Error on Tuesday October 20 2015, @06:45PM
(Score: 2) by frojack on Tuesday October 20 2015, @09:07PM
Requiring registration would make it possible to hold people accountable for their actions,
Really? How do you foresee that having any effect at all?
The authorities could jam or shoot down or follow a drone to its source, and then take the registration number and look up the owner and arrest them?
The problem was solved by jamming or shooting down or following to the source. Registration adds NOTHING.
Guns are registered. Look how much that has helped!!
You are buying into an enforcement capability that will be ineffectual, but will still leave drones unfettered in the hands of police.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by khallow on Wednesday October 21 2015, @12:01AM
People are already showing that they'll blithely interfere with firefighting operations and fly drones over crowded areas, and in many cases, you simply can't determine who's responsible.
Can you even tell me if one requires two hands to count these "many cases"? Just because law enforcement is often too incompetent to catch people who do illegal things with drones, doesn't justify regulating drones.
(Score: 2) by edIII on Tuesday October 20 2015, @07:46PM
Yes. However, I cross-filed it on the Internet under the heading, "Rabbit Stew". Unless it's fire, in which case, BBQ rabbit.
Technically, lunchtime is at any moment. It's just a wave function.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 20 2015, @07:49PM
> ...basically, a toy. A tool, if you prefer.
So just like the gun I keep on my farm.