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NOAA Requires License For Photos of the Earth
Teancum writes "In an interesting show of the level of regulations private spacecraft designers have to go through, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has demanded that American participants of the Google Lunar X Prize obtain a license if their spacecraft are 'capable of actively or passively sensing the Earth's surface, including
bodies of water, from space by making use of the properties of the electromagnetic waves emitted, reflected, or diffracted by the sensed objects.' What prompted NOAA to ask for this license came from a visit by the XPrize staff to the NOAA offices in Maryland. What is going to happen when 'space tourists' bring their private cameras along for the ride?"
Um, Wow i didnt think you could copyright THE EARTH.. What next? The Moon!
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Definition 5 from the regulations: "The term 'land remote sensing' means the collection of data which can be processed into imagery of surface features of the Earth from an unclassified satellite or satellites, other than an operational United States Government weather satellite." It appears to only apply to 'satellites'?
...do I need a license?
Obviously, when I'm standing on the ground and take a photo of the ground, I don't need a license. Neither do I need it from a mountain top. Probably not from an airplane or a weather balloon.
So, at what distance does this kick in and can anyone cite the applicable law and regulation?
It seems like it would be hard to enforce jurisdiction in space when we don't even have jurisdiction 10 miles off our coastline.
Actually Rolling Rock wants to put ads on the moon but that may well be a joke. http://moonvertising.com/
"So long and thanks for all the fish."
Here is a link to the act itself:
http://geo.arc.nasa.gov/sge/landsat/15USCch82.html
It looks like the purpose is to protect the commercial interests of private space companies. If all the sudden people are launching rockets and giving away the data for free, that hurts space commerce. The goal here, again, is commercial. They want to create a commercial space enterprise. So while that sector is growing Uncle Sam is going to protect it.
Because they have a policy of being "nondiscriminatory" they have to either charge everyone, or charge no one.
However, one could argue that if your goal is non-commercial this wouldn't apply to you.
This policy probably had good intentions, but is now very out of date.
The law isn't stupid, it's just broader than anyone realized at the time Stupidity would be actually prosecuting anyone for taking a few snapshots out the spacecraft window without a license.
I think they realized exactly what they were doing..
DMCA anyone?
a quote from the post above yours.
This law, in particular, is a piece of a strategy that didn't work in the early 90s, thanks in large part to career people at NOAA. They got this law passed, but they [private services like accu-weather] weren't able to shut down the ftp servers.
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Apollo 8 Earthrise Dec 1968
From Gooogle Images
And the first TV photo of Earth from TIROS 1 on 1 April 1960.
(April Fools Day- how apropos)
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What business do governments have in interfering with private individuals taking pictures from space or anywhere else for that matter. NOAA does not own the earth, and is in no position to decide which 'big wealthy hoggish' business it is going to make a winner of simply by denying ordinary people their civil rights. Suppose one gets on an AeroFlot plane on an international flight that takes off from Chicago and takes pictures all the way to NYC. Who has the ownership and copyright for Cleveland, Howard the Duck? Doubt the freedom loving Russian stewardesses will object.
Well then, looks like the winner of the Lunar X Prize won't launch in the US, and probably won't start a business here either.
It looks like we will move to Canada. Between things like this and the other ITARds, there's just no reason to do it in the US. I hope the Canadian law isn't as bad as US law.
Note to the other teams though, you will need to follow the law (of all team member jurisdictions.) or you can not win the GLXP money, which is part of why we will not become a GLXP team. We are doing this on our own, in the open. www.openluna.org
Yes, we are just starting, and could use some help in the art/web department.
Your Moon, Your Mission, Get involved! http://www.openluna.org
Hmmmm. I guess private organizations will just go launch, and develop, from other, hungrier countries that aren't so into lording over their own people.
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I sometimes look at wunderground for wx here in Toronto, but that telnet server only works for the states. Too bad.
The wunderground telnet service parses most major airports. Check the city codes for your state. Chances are, there's one close to you. The great thing about the airport forecasts is they are good enough for pilots and choosing gear for riding motorcycles. The local television news seems like a political wordsmith case compared to the NOAA forecasts.
We actually become more like the USSR every day, actually I know people that lived in the soviet bloc for most of their lives, and when I ask them about resemblances between the US and their (basically) communist dictatorships they have a lot to say. For example, they see mass media in the US as an echo of media propoganda in the eastern bloc and such. It's pretty crazy, but our country is going to shit in more ways than one.