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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?"
It has nothing to do with copyright.
You must be the stupidest fucktardian cuntwaffle on Earth to respond to a person who says "It's not copyright" by telling them exactly what they told you.
when you think about it, taking a photo of the earth from space isn't (conceptually) any different from walking into a store a stealing a CD.
Talk about someone who is so full of shit it isn't funny. You must be either an IDIOT or a friggin RIAA/MPAA loon.
First of all...if you walk into a store and take a physical CD you take something someone else has purchased, which is theft.
Taking a basic outdoor photo on earth is not illegal. The photon source is either provided by the sun which is free, at least that is what all those eco-freaks blabbering about solar panels for electric generation tell us, or is provided by the camera if flash is used. Taking a photo of the earth is identical in that solar radiation is utilized. The only difference is the distance from the subject, instead of a few few or tens of feet the subject is a couple of hundred miles away.
Now if you are talking about remote sensing using generated radiation types, like using radar or microwaves to map the surface, I could see NOAA possibly wanting to have some process to ensure that the frequencies used do not cause interference to a system in operation. But in general there should be no real obstacle to any kind of remote sensing project.
So tell me, where in taking a photo of the earth is something stolen?? And leave your RIAA/MPAA lunacies at the door. Those tired, worn out arguments are losing their punch
Oh, BTW, check out my sig...if it ever applied to anyone...it sure as hell applies to you!
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As if RIAA and MPAA weren't enough, now this NOAA: Who's come next, AAA?
What about the GNAA, the national association for the advancement of gay colored people?