Exercising Drone Control

Do we need a legislation upheaval to accommodate our drones?
There is no doubt about it – the widespread commercial availability of unmanned aerial vehicles (more commonly known as drones) have had a huge effect on our culture and our attitudes towards privacy and safety. Originally developed for US military purposes—in response to concerns about pilot safety when flying over hostile territory—drones are now used for everything from getting an epic GoPro camera shot to mundane neighbor surveillance.
It seems that in just a short amount of time drones have gone from being a futuristic idea to a commonplace gadget. From small startups to massive military and defence-focused companies, there is an expanding list of vendors who are selling drones to a mass market, and thanks to ever-increasing demand their numbers are showing no sign of slowing down soon. Relevant to industries and fields as varied as agriculture, energy, utilities, mining, construction, real estate, news media and film production, the drone market is set to have a valuation of over $4 billion by the year 2021.
What’s most interesting is that the massive growth in this industry has all happened despite the fact that government policy in regards to drones is still in flux, and is no way capable of keeping up with the number of commercial drones currently in use. There are a host of valid concerns about the use of drones without much regulation or oversight, and while some lawmakers have been vocal and proactive in trying to address these concerns, legislation will inevitably take time to catch up. Industry analysts predict that legislation in the US may eventually allow small drones to be flown at low altitudes in view of a pilot on the ground. However, this is unlikely to be officially on the books until 2017.
Until then the news is bound to be full of incidents of individuals pushing the limits of what drones can do, and local governments and officials scrambling to respond.
Here are a few examples of some that have occurred already:
In September of this year, a British man was convicted and fined for illegally flying drones over congested areas including football arenas in London, Liverpool and Manchester. London’s Metropolitan Police Service said that this was the first prosecution of its kind. Lead officer on the case Nick Aldworth said “Flying drones over congested areas or buildings can pose great risks to public safety and security and Wilson put many people in real danger”. In response to the incident, the UK’s Civil Aviation Authority has released a drone code to serve as guidance for conduct.
In a similar incident the US Federal Aviation Authority posed a $1.9 million fine on photography company SkyPan International. This was punishment for 65 unauthorized drone operations in Chicago and New York City between 2012 and 2014 that were said to be illegal and pose a threat to the public.
In a story that could only come out of Los Angeles, the governor of California banned paparazzi from using drones to fly over private property in pursuit of photos of celebrities. While paps had previously maintained that flying over airspace of a person’s house was not an invasion of privacy, the legislation redefined what a “physical invasion of privacy” was deemed to be.
Finally, a grand mishap happened earlier this year when a drone crashed into the stands at a US Open match in New York’s Louis Armstrong stadium. Though the collision happened in an empty section of seats and caused no bodily harm, it raised security red flags for officials. At the time of the incident, it was unclear who was manning the drone and NYPD was said to be investigating the incident.
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