This restriction isn't even altitude or usage based. If this stands, it's precedence to make you register your footballs and Frisbee.
You cannot control a Frisbee or football after releasing it, so no... it does not fit the definition. Either it must have some form of autonomous flight capability, or it must be possible to control remotely to qualify as a drone.
So it seems like kites would fit their criteria, as you can control a kite by tugging on a string while on the ground, and since the FAQ specifically states that tethered devices are not excluded from requiring registration when they fall within the weight guidelines.
Say goodbye to standard battery sizes like AA or AAA or D or even the rectangular 9v. In the future, everything will have a custom made battery, that you have to replace regularly, and will only be available from the original supplier.
Until they obsolete them, at which point your device is useless and you will have to buy the newest one.
Please note, I am probably *not* giving anyone any ideas here... this is already happening with consumer electronics like phones, it probably won't be long before it applies to everything.
First of all it's $5 every three years. Not sure if that is $5 per person or per device... but the fact that it's a regular fee is problematic.
Second of all, this registration has to be paid even if the device has an extremely limited range and couldn't ever practically be used to interfere with other operations, is never flown anywhere on private property, or even if it is tethered (so technically kites would count, since they can be controlled from the ground). I'm also wondering how they feel about trained birds.
Thirdly, if you aren't a US citizen, registering isn't even an option.
How does a toy drone with a flight ceiling of maybe about 50 feet and an effective control range of perhaps double that, flown outside on private property or else in a public park endanger manned aircraft, exactly?
Which reminds me of a point.... that kites would technically be considered drones by this act, since kites can fairly easily be maneuvered remotely from the ground by tugging on the string or strings in different directions.
You don't require a driver's license to drive on your own property, or private property with permission of the owner. This FAA license is required for absolutely all drones that are flown outdoors, whether they are only ever used on private property or not.
Q. If I'm just flying it for fun in my yard, do I have to register it?
A. Yes, if the UAS weight is within the stated weights for registration.
What if you aren't a US citizen that happens to be in the US?
It''s not anything resembling a requirement to be a US citizen and still legally be within its borders. One might be just permanent resident, or maybe even just taking a vacation there, among numerous other possibilities.
According to their FAQ, whether the aircraft needs to be tethered or not does not impact whether it needs to be registered, and thus no autonomous flight capability seems to be required.
By this law, even operating the old Mattel toy Vertibird outside without registration would be illegal.
Since you can legally be in the USA without necessarily being a citizen (just visiting, legal permanent resident, et al), are non-citizens forbidden from flying drones?
The only kind of kite that cannot be remotely controlled from the ground to at least some extent is one where its strings or cord to the ground has broken.
but [wind turbines] generate such a massive amount of CO2 in their construction and transport that they are essentially useless
If you think about the logistics of that hypothesis for just a moment, you would realize that it is categorically impossible, unless you allege that a turbine only has a life span on the order of weeks before it must be completely replaced with a completely new one, because that's about how long it takes for a typical wind farm, in real-world use under real world conditions, to generate all of the power that was used to create it in the first place.
And the ecological impact per kilogram of construction for such turbines is no more costly than the construction of practically anything else. You cannot advocate that the emissions of construction should somehow be an ecological justification for them to not be constructed in the first place without simultaneously suggesting virtually all forms of modern construction, in absolutely all industries. should also cease.
I never felt that the reason they gave, which was to catch the most dangerous terrorists, was ever a realistic goal... Whenever someone advocates this, it is either because they are simply too ignorant to realize the actual implications of what they are saying, or else it is because they (possibly sincerely) feel that the number of people who are too incompetent to be able to get away with committing crimes if encryption is not as readily available, but would otherwise be able to get away with committing them if they had easy access to strong encryption technologies is somehow a sizable portion of the people who commit crimes.
That's kind of my point.... if it can't tell the difference, then it calls the cops as soon as you leave the scene of an accident, whether it was one that merited calling the cops or not (that is, if nobody is hurt, and the affected parties have already exchanged appropriate contact and insurance information), meaning that in a vast majority of cases, it will wrongly notify the police, and waste people's time.
I hadn't noticed before.... I mean, while the above post stated it explicitly, most of the time they do not, but looking at where it has been done in other posts, that does seem to be the common theme. I might not agree with it, but I feel like at least I understand it now.
Why is it that some AC's feel like they should always add to the text of their comment whatever they had to type for the captcha that was required to submit the post? The above is an extreme example of this where the AC actually made a separate post just to announce what their captcha was. I'm asking sincerely... is there actually a real demographic of people out there that actually give anything more than two-tenths of a shit what captcha word somebody else had to type?
You *are* allowed to leave the scene of an accident as long as nobody was hurt, and appropriate contact information has been exchanged between the affected parties so that it can be reported when they get home.
Actually, Apple iPad did get an update... the latest iPad directly supports the new Apple stylus that they just came out with. but to my knowledge the update was not commercially available until November. It would be interesting, I think, to compare MS surface sales to Apple for November.
Slashdot Mirror
You cannot control a Frisbee or football after releasing it, so no... it does not fit the definition. Either it must have some form of autonomous flight capability, or it must be possible to control remotely to qualify as a drone.
So it seems like kites would fit their criteria, as you can control a kite by tugging on a string while on the ground, and since the FAQ specifically states that tethered devices are not excluded from requiring registration when they fall within the weight guidelines.
And where did you see that this so-called ease of use was a factor in determining whether the device needed to be registered?
Say goodbye to standard battery sizes like AA or AAA or D or even the rectangular 9v. In the future, everything will have a custom made battery, that you have to replace regularly, and will only be available from the original supplier.
Until they obsolete them, at which point your device is useless and you will have to buy the newest one.
Please note, I am probably *not* giving anyone any ideas here... this is already happening with consumer electronics like phones, it probably won't be long before it applies to everything.
First of all it's $5 every three years. Not sure if that is $5 per person or per device... but the fact that it's a regular fee is problematic.
Second of all, this registration has to be paid even if the device has an extremely limited range and couldn't ever practically be used to interfere with other operations, is never flown anywhere on private property, or even if it is tethered (so technically kites would count, since they can be controlled from the ground). I'm also wondering how they feel about trained birds.
Thirdly, if you aren't a US citizen, registering isn't even an option.
In what way do you allege that an RC helicopter or aircraft actually differs from a drone?
Which reminds me of a point.... that kites would technically be considered drones by this act, since kites can fairly easily be maneuvered remotely from the ground by tugging on the string or strings in different directions.
You don't require a driver's license to drive on your own property, or private property with permission of the owner. This FAA license is required for absolutely all drones that are flown outdoors, whether they are only ever used on private property or not.
It''s not anything resembling a requirement to be a US citizen and still legally be within its borders. One might be just permanent resident, or maybe even just taking a vacation there, among numerous other possibilities.
By this law, even operating the old Mattel toy Vertibird outside without registration would be illegal.
Since you can legally be in the USA without necessarily being a citizen (just visiting, legal permanent resident, et al), are non-citizens forbidden from flying drones?
The only kind of kite that cannot be remotely controlled from the ground to at least some extent is one where its strings or cord to the ground has broken.
If you think about the logistics of that hypothesis for just a moment, you would realize that it is categorically impossible, unless you allege that a turbine only has a life span on the order of weeks before it must be completely replaced with a completely new one, because that's about how long it takes for a typical wind farm, in real-world use under real world conditions, to generate all of the power that was used to create it in the first place.
And the ecological impact per kilogram of construction for such turbines is no more costly than the construction of practically anything else. You cannot advocate that the emissions of construction should somehow be an ecological justification for them to not be constructed in the first place without simultaneously suggesting virtually all forms of modern construction, in absolutely all industries. should also cease.
I never felt that the reason they gave, which was to catch the most dangerous terrorists, was ever a realistic goal... Whenever someone advocates this, it is either because they are simply too ignorant to realize the actual implications of what they are saying, or else it is because they (possibly sincerely) feel that the number of people who are too incompetent to be able to get away with committing crimes if encryption is not as readily available, but would otherwise be able to get away with committing them if they had easy access to strong encryption technologies is somehow a sizable portion of the people who commit crimes.
That's kind of my point.... if it can't tell the difference, then it calls the cops as soon as you leave the scene of an accident, whether it was one that merited calling the cops or not (that is, if nobody is hurt, and the affected parties have already exchanged appropriate contact and insurance information), meaning that in a vast majority of cases, it will wrongly notify the police, and waste people's time.
... they are all just plain wrong, and gravity is simply weird?
Dubious.... there is a long established correlation between stress and heart disease.
it's that stress (too much of it, particularly) shortens it.
I hadn't noticed before.... I mean, while the above post stated it explicitly, most of the time they do not, but looking at where it has been done in other posts, that does seem to be the common theme. I might not agree with it, but I feel like at least I understand it now.
Why is it that some AC's feel like they should always add to the text of their comment whatever they had to type for the captcha that was required to submit the post? The above is an extreme example of this where the AC actually made a separate post just to announce what their captcha was. I'm asking sincerely... is there actually a real demographic of people out there that actually give anything more than two-tenths of a shit what captcha word somebody else had to type?
It's my understanding that the figure includes *all* of the earth's gold, whether currently accessible or not.
Mercury could have several orders of magnitude more gold on it than Earth does though.
Gold supply on earth is too limited to ever drop in price. All of the world's gold could fit into a cube that is less than 20 meters on each side.
When is it that you've seen gold get closer to worthless?
And just how is a car expected to know the difference?
You *are* allowed to leave the scene of an accident as long as nobody was hurt, and appropriate contact information has been exchanged between the affected parties so that it can be reported when they get home.
Actually, Apple iPad did get an update... the latest iPad directly supports the new Apple stylus that they just came out with. but to my knowledge the update was not commercially available until November. It would be interesting, I think, to compare MS surface sales to Apple for November.