Category Archives: Drone Law

Drone Law to Become Big Business?

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This April 9 article from Fortune talks about the types of legal issues implicated by this emerging industry. I like this summary from Brendan Shulman:

Given the myriad applications for the technology, the scope of “drone law” is broad, stretching from freedom of speech and press concerns to issues around intellectual property or land use rights, as well as more practical matters of insurance and liability.

Translation: This won’t just be about how the government regulates unmanned air systems. Drones, or unmanned aircraft systems, will become intertwined with many aspects of our lives and our business environment.

Consider this bizarre incident in which a woman attacked a young man on a Connecticut beach for operating an aerial photography drone. In addition to the criminal offenses committed, the incident raises legal questions regarding the limits of privacy, property rights, and the freedom to simply take photographs in the public square.

North Carolina House passes drone bill

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It’s not clear from the report whether this measure is just intended to regulate line-of-sight, model-type aircraft, but that seems to be a reasonable supposition:

Under the legislation, drone operators would have to be 18, pass a knowledge and skills test (still to be developed) and require a license for commercial use. Once the FAA permits commercial use, it still wouldn’t be allowed in North Carolina until the Department of Transportation implements testing and licensing or until May 31, 2015, whichever comes first.

The reporter seems confused about the FAA’s “ban on commercial use.” I will post an update on this after getting clarification.

UPDATE: The bill is posted online, here.

This appears to cover every type of unmanned aircraft that is not a model aircraft. In a normal world in which the FAA had promulgated timely regulations, this might be regarded, at least in part, as an unconstitutional usurpation of federal regulatory authority. My guess is that the NC legislature has grown weary of waiting on the FAA.

Stay tuned.

Do realtors need to panic?

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Now they’re trying to go after realtors.

Well, not exactly. What the FAA has done is issue what’s called a “Notice of Interpretation and Request for Comment.” In this notice, the FAA is seeking comments on its proposed interpretation of the model aircraft exemption in the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012. That law requires the FAA to promulgate rules governing unmanned aerial vehicles by no later than 2015. They are waaaaay behind in meeting that date, as indicated in the previous post. This is just a baby step on the path to creating a full set of enforceable regulations.*

*The FAA claims that realtors and other commercial use operators would be subject to current FAA regulations, as well. But the FAA doesn’t point out what those regulations would be.

Watching the watchers

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Perhaps this guy has way too much time on his hands, but he’s conducting an interesting experiment in citizen vigilance:

A South Bay man who routinely records police activity has started using an unmanned drone to help with filming, just the latest example of how law enforcement is increasingly encountering the technology on the civilian side.

Of course, the FAA quotes never cease to give me a chuckle:

The FAA estimated in a report that there could be 7,500 civilian hobbyist drones in use within five years. Federal officials said they hope to craft clearer civilian drone rules by 2015, but some experts said that’s too optimistic a timeline.

Ya’ think?