Wednesday, February 24, 2016
Monday, February 22, 2016
Drone users face jail time, fines if they don't register
Drone users face jail time, fines if they don't register
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By Keith Laing - 02/22/16 02:48 PM EST
Drone users are facing the possibility of fines up to $27,500 and even jail time if they have not registered their devices with the federal government.
The Federal Aviation Administration's Feb. 19 deadline for drone registrations, which was set in December, has now passed.
The agency says "failure to register an aircraft may result in regulatory and criminal sanctions."
"The FAA may assess civil penalties up to $27,500," the FAA said in a frequently asked questions post on its website. "Criminal penalties include fines of up to $250,000 and/or imprisonment for up to three years."
The FAA is imposing a $5 fee for registrations, over the objections of drone advocates, but the agency provided refunds people who registered their drones within the first 30 days of the new requirement.
The agency said Monday that 368,472 drones were registered by midnight on Feb. 19, surpassing the number of airplanes that are on record with the federal government.
FAA Administrator Michael Huerta says he is encouraged by the response to the drone registration rules, which were implemented by the Transportation Department in December after an increase in the number of reported drone sightings by commercial airline pilots.
"The speed with which we were able to roll this out is a testament to the invaluable input we received from the diverse task force of stakeholders we brought together to work on this issue," he said in a recent speech at a drone policy summit in Washington.
"It’s proof that when government and industry partner, we can innovate, cut through red tape, and use technology to tackle emerging risks."
Drone users have complained about the fees, labeling them a "drone tax." A drone hobbyist in Silver Spring, Md. and a technology group have sued the FAA over the rules, arguing the mandate violates a federal law prohibiting the FAA from regulating recreational drones.
The FAA has defended the legality of the system, saying the agency has the authority to regulate all "aircrafts" that are flown in the U.S. The agency has also defended the drone registration fee is nominal.
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Saturday, February 06, 2016
Wednesday, February 03, 2016
If You Registered Your Drone with the FAA, Kiss Your Privacy Goodbye
HIT & RUN BLOG
[UPDATED] If You Registered Your Drone with the FAA, Kiss Your Privacy Goodbye
Whoops! The mandatory unmanned aerial vehicle database is public and searchable.
Katherine Mangu-Ward|Feb. 3, 2016 2:28 pm
docpop / photo on flickr[UPDATE: CEI policy analyst and drone nerd Marc Scribner writes to note that while there are some personal drones listed in the public database, that list is of people who registered their drones under a 2012 rule governing commercial drones. Registrants under the December rules are not in there. At least not yet...]
Are you a law-abiding drone owner who registered your unmanned aerial vehicle with the federal government? Congratulations! Total strangers can now find your name, address, and lots of stuff about your fun toy in a public, searchable database!
Late last year, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced that virtually everyone who owns a drone (a drone's a drone, no matter how small, it seems) would have to register their flying computers for $5 a pop with the federal government. The penalty for failing to register: civil fines of up to $27,500 and criminal penalties of up to $250,000 and imprisonment for three years.
Reason's Scott Shackford has written about the failure of the FAA to actually convince most people to register theirdrones.
And thank goodness for that incompetence, since it will offset this latest revelation of incompetence: The 300,000 entries in the federal UAV registry are public, searchable, and downloadable, despite claims by the feds to the contrary, Engadget reports.
Go ahead, search vehicle registrations in your neighborhood right here on this handy official webpage!
This registry includes private planes as well, but scan for "UAVs under 55 lbs" to see drones that have been registered under the new law.
What's more, as the think tank Heritage notes in a report released yesterday, the FAA registry fails to accomplish its stated goals of improving safety, providing accountability, and offering education to drone owners.
"It is clear that this regulatory response was rushed and arbitrary," conclude authors Jason Snead and John-Michael Seibler, "but there is also a pernicious side effect to this purposeless regulation: Otherwise innocent people are now exposed to criminal liability for no valid purpose."
Add to that list that innocent people have now had their privacy undermined as well.
Katherine Mangu-Ward is managing editor of Reason.
Follow Katherine Mangu-Ward on Twitter
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