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FAA Scans the Internet For Drone Users; Sends Cease and Desist Letters
An anonymous reader writes with this news from Government Attic: "The FAA has released a set of cease and desist letters sent in 2012 and 2013 to people operating drone vehicles for a variety of purposes including: tornado research, inspecting gas well stacks, aerial photography, journalism education, and other purposes. Drone cease and desist letters sent during 2014 are available from the FAA upon request." The text of the letters (bureaucratically polite, but bureaucratically firm) often starts with notes indicating to the UAV operators to whom they were sent that the FAA became interested in them because it "became aware of" their web sites, or even because someone tipped them off about an article in a community newsletter. The letters go on to outline the conditions under which the FAA allows the operation of unmanned aircraft, and specifically notes:
Those who use UAS only for recreational enjoyment, operate in accordance with Advisory
circular 91-57. This generally applies to operations in remotely populated areas away
from airports, persons and buildings, below 400 feet Above Ground Level, and within
visual line of sight. On February 6, 2007 the FAA published UAS guidance in the Federal
Register, 14 CPR Part 91 / Docket No. FAA-2006-25714 I Unmanned Aircraft
Operations in the National Airspace System. Toward the end of the docket it says,
''The FAA recognizes that people and companies other than modelers might be flying UAS
with the mistaken understanding that they are legally operating under the authority of AC
91-57. AC 91-57 only applies to modelers, and thus specifically excludes Its use by
persons or companies for business purposes."
Update: 09/07 02:16 GMT by T : Pray forgive the OCR that turned "persons" into "pecions" and "circular" into "arcular"; updated to fix those. Update: 09/08 11:07 GMT by T : Correction: Carl Malamud is not affiliated with Government Attic as this story originally described: sorry for the error.
"This generally applies to operations in remotely populated areas" So who's doing this populating remotely? We have a right to know...
Is the government worried it has competition for "spying"?
No, that is not the main concern. The number of people on food stamps and SSDI has tripled in the past decade, creating lots of new jobs for welfare administrators. Private citizens that engage in productive, income generating activity, are a threat to those jobs, so the government is trying to put a stop to it. Using a drone for a hobby is okay. But using a drone to start a business and support your family, is not. If we allow that, it will soon spiral out of control, with the businesses growing, offering more services, hiring more people, including office staff, IT people, accountants, janitors, etc. If we are not careful, pretty soon everyone that wants a job, will have one.
You should see all of the discarded and abandoned remotes out here in the Alaskan bush. Hundreds of thousands of them scurrying around looking for AAA batteries and an IR beam. It's really sad.
What that has to do with UAVs isn't clear.
Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!