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Drones and RC Models Must be Registered by February 16

posted by takyon on Tuesday December 15 2015, @12:56AM   Printer-friendly
from the days-are-numbered dept.

xpda writes:

The FAA has released its final rules for drone registration requirements. Every small unmanned aircraft used for hobby and recreational purposes must be registered (you can begin registering on December 21st). This includes traditional radio controlled models in addition to autonomous and semi-autonomous drones. "Small" means 0.55 to 55 lbs.

takyon: Registration costs $5 per operator, but the fee will be waived for the first 30 days to encourage early registration:

Anyone 13 and older can register themselves as an operator; younger children can operate drones under adult supervision with proper registration.

This is only one of the elements of FAA's drone-related rulemaking. The agency is also tackling a set of comprehensive rules for recreational drone fliers and another one for commercial drone operators, such as Google or Amazon.

For now, the FAA's guidance for fliers of store-bought and homemade drones remains the same: Keep your drones under 55 pounds; fly them within your line of sight and below 400 feet; stay at least 5 miles away from an airport; avoid flying near stadiums or crowded places; and take some drone classes or join a club for extra safety.

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  • (Score: 3, Insightful) by FatPhil on Tuesday December 15 2015, @01:23PM

    by FatPhil (863) <{pc-soylent} {at} {asdf.fi}> on Tuesday December 15 2015, @01:23PM (#276635) Homepage
    Which bit of "By saying that a single registration can cover all drones that a person owns, this is a registration of people." do you not understand?

    Quoth FAA:
    Q. If I own multiple drones, do I have to register them all?
    A. No. You may register once and apply the same registration number to all your UAS.

    Therefore, the registration number *does not identify a vehicle*, it identifies a set of vehicles all associated with one common owner, therefore it actually identifies the owner of the vehicle.

    GPP's point stands.
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  • (Score: 2) by slinches on Tuesday December 15 2015, @08:38PM

    by slinches (5049) on Tuesday December 15 2015, @08:38PM (#276793)

    Therefore, the registration number *does not identify a vehicle*, it identifies a set of vehicles all associated with one common owner, therefore it actually identifies the owner of the vehicle.

    Yes, except who in their right mind would voluntarily label their drone if they intend to use it in a legally questionable way (it doesn't even have to be a permanent mark)? And then even if for some strange reason the person being irresponsible with the drone did jump through the hoops to register and then leaves the label on it, the label will be destroyed along with the drone in many (especially the most severe) incidents.

    This seems idiotic. Just relying on the honor system would be equally effective and wouldn't cost the taxpayers anything.