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

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.


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  • (Score: 2) by Tork on Tuesday October 20 2015, @06:07PM

    by Tork (3914) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday October 20 2015, @06:07PM (#252401)
    Are you okay with the police using these machines?
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  • (Score: 1) by tftp on Wednesday October 21 2015, @07:16AM

    by tftp (806) on Wednesday October 21 2015, @07:16AM (#252624) Homepage

    Are you okay with the police using these machines?

    Personally, I'd be OK with anyone using these machines safely and without interference with other people's business. In reality it means certification of owners - and, perhaps, mandatory training and licensing. Otherwise, as the number of drones and users grows, more and more idiots are going to cause trouble in every possible way.

    By extension, the police should be using these drones in a professional way, and for specific law enforcement purposes that are defined by courts, with protection of privacy of innocents. However my opinion on this subject hardly matters because the police does not ask people what the officers may do. Only the courts may constrain the police; however judges and the police are working together, have common goals, and are unlikely to be each other's checks and balances.