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FAA Taking a Look At News Corp's Use of Drone

Posted by samzenpus on from the they-have-a-drone? dept.

nonprofiteer writes "The News Corp iPad newspaper has a drone they've been using for news gathering — mainly flying it over disaster zones in N. Dakota and Alabama. However, FAA regulations on drones are very restrictive at the moment, and they're not supposed to be used for commercial purposes (law enforcement is free to use them). The FAA is now examining The Daily's use of its drone. Could this set a precedent for how private businesses can use drones?"

2 of 252 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Drone vs. RC by 140Mandak262Jamuna · · Score: 5, Interesting
    When it remains a toy, it has certain market size, R&D effort, usage numbers. When it becomes commercial, the market size and the development takes a completely different path. Basic assumption is that as long as they are toys, the numbers and sizes will remain small. If and when toys get out of hand, they come under regulation. When the jet-skis came in first, they were toys and were not regulated. Once they became really big, fast and powerful and started running a few swimmers over, they come under regulation.

    Of course, it can't be explained in a 30 second sound bite. Sorry if I have exceeded your attention span.

    --
    sed -e 's/Chuck Norris/Rajnikant/g' joke > fact
  2. Re:FAA Shutdown by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I have a feeling that if I thought my job was keeping planes from falling out of the sky, I'd probably keep doing it through a "blip" in my paycheck.

    And this is where people get you.

    "Your job is important and saves lives. We're gonna cut your pay."
    "Well I'll quit then."
    "You don't consider saving lives more important than money?"
    "I do. I guess I'll keep working for lower pay."
    "Alright, we'll see you in a few months when we cut your pay again."

    If a job is so important that it would cost lives if people went on strike or quit, why are you messing with their pay in the first place? Why aren't they being paid an INCREDIBLE amount, equivalent to at least, I dunno, an entertainer?

    I'm pretty sure the work that any competent FAA employee is worth more than a vast majority of sports stars, popular movie/television stars, popular musicians, and other celebrity figures. And yet they get paid a pittance in comparison.