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FAA To Free Aircraft Hobbled By IP Laws

Posted by kdawson on from the maintain-it-but-we-won't-tell-you-how dept.

smellsofbikes writes "The FAA is attempting to develop a legal process that will allow them to release data about vintage aircraft designs that have obviously been abandoned. Existing laws restrict the FAA's ability to release this data because it is deemed to be intellectual property even though the owner of record has long since ceased to exist. This is fundamentally the same problem that copyright laws impose on people looking for out-of-print books. But in the case of vintage aircraft, the owners are legally required to maintain them to manufacturer specifications that the owners cannot legally obtain: an expensive and potentially lethal dilemma. If the FAA, notoriously hidebound and conservative, is willing to find a solution to this IP Catch-22, maybe the idea will catch on in other places."

5 of 106 comments (clear)

  1. About time... by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 2, Funny

    I always wanted to build a War World I biplane. Those vintage stealth designs are hard to come by.

    1. Re:About time... by markbt73 · · Score: 2, Funny

      They're painted blue underneath.

      --
      "Oh boy! Are we going to try something dangerous?"
  2. ...and also... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    the FAA, notoriously hidebound and conservative

    The FAA, possibly even more notorious for their dislike of aircraft crashing, even old ones?

  3. A Summary of the FAA's View by Shadow+Wrought · · Score: 4, Funny

    "The plane is not safe to fly until the weight of the paperwork exceeds that of the aircraft." They are merely helping themselves;-)

    --
    If brevity is the soul of wit, then how does one explain Twitter?
  4. Re:Pacific Fighters by Sloppy · · Score: 4, Funny

    If they're smart they'll talk Grumman into a very low/nonexistent license fee since a game is also an advertisement for the company's designs.
    It's true! If it weren't for all the General Dynamics ads and product placement in games I played as a kid, I probably never would have bought all those F-16s that I have sitting on blocks out in the front yard.
    --
    As copyright owner of this comment, I authorize everyone to defeat any technological measure which limits access to it.