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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: 2) by Lagg on Tuesday October 20 2015, @05:40PM
Even though you went way off topic I still have to agree. I love guns, half because I like shooting and half because I respect the extreme engineering feats that go into them. I wouldn't mind carrying one because I like shoulder and concealment holsters (no particular reason, I just like them for the same reason I do my jacket). But these types of people just like to intimidate others and make themselves feel more secure. I stopped trying to make any kind of objective defense of guns because it's too hard to do so when the very first argument that comes up isn't "can't I just have fun target shooting?" but "WHAT IF I NEED TO KILL A THIEF OMG". People tend to start assuming you'll do that too after a while. Kind of seeing something similar with drones. It's never people just wanting to play with a cool quadcopter. It's always "NSA AND AMAZON CAN SEND THESE AFTER ME, WHY CAN'T I SEND IT AFTER PEOPLE TOO". The article really shows what happens when that mindset takes over too. So do the posts in this thread. People are equating gun regulation (not toys) to that of quadcopters and other RC vehicles (are toys, unless you bought the mobile missile platforms the MIC seem to have no qualms about pumping out).
I mean yeah, you could hurt someone if you fly it into their face. You can spy on people too. But both have been true since long range piloting started becoming feasible. It seems to me like this is partly hysteria and partly oversaturation brought on by media coverage of aforementioned MIC jackasses bombing people. How screwed up do things have to be to see this person - someone who should be qualified, an FAA guy for fucks sake - say “A lot of people are buying them and thinking they are toys,” Ellman said. “They are not toys.” and not take a second glance at it? Yeah, those people buying their friend a microcopter are surely planning some devious shit.
http://lagg.me [lagg.me] 🗿
(Score: 2) by frojack on Tuesday October 20 2015, @08:47PM
You can spy on people too.
I don't even think that is an issue the FAA is trying to address.
Its more about the over blown fear of mid-air collisions or engine ingestion of a drone by an airliner, or other plane.
Never mind that commercial airliners can ingest a whole flock of sparrows or a couple geese and spit feathers out the back without a hiccup. It takes a large flock of large birds (Canadian geese in Sully's case) to take down an Airbus 320.
Landings have had to be aborted, fire retardant air-drops have been aborted due to small drones in the area. Probably over reaction in most cases.
Cops have arrested people (with no legal right to do so) for using "drones" to video their operations from a block away.
(I've heard police (on my scanner) ask the FAA for air space closures of 10 mile radius to 10000 feet due to an operation to arrest someone barricaded in their home. The FAA granted them 1 mile, and 3000 feet, thereby assuring news choppers with long lenses could capture the event. I guess they aren't total idiots after all).
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.