DJI Innovations, the leading manufacturer of drones, launched a beta version of its new "geofencing" system that should keep its drones from flying into restricted airspace. The new feature is called Geospatial Environment Online (GEO), and it will let users know about areas where drone flight is restricted, either due to regulations or because of safety issues.
GEO will stop DJI drones from taking off in restricted areas like airports, Washington D.C., and temporarily restricted areas such as places near forest fires or big stadium events. Sensitive areas around prisons and power plants will be off limits in the system as well.
DJI owners can temporarily opt out of GEO and unlock some of the flight restrictions, but there's a catch. They must have verified accounts with the company, with a credit card, debit card, or cellphone number on file. Users cannot turn off all the flight restrictions though; places like Washington D.C. will remain completely off limits.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 03 2016, @03:15AM
So, how do you plan to enforce these regulations without taking control away from the user? If it doesn't respect the users' freedoms, then it's worthless junk.
Furthermore, regulating a drone is just insane. I shouldn't have to beg the government before I'm allowed to do something trivial like have a drone. That's the *real* paranoia: A terrorist is hiding behind every corner.