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Federal Aviation Administration

This Could Be the Year for Drone Journalism

Poynter's Benjamin Mullin has a piece about how 2016 could be the breakout year for drone journalism because the FAA is slated to issue new rules about the commercial use of drones: "It will be a watershed development for American photojournalism writ large, one that will put relatively inexpensive aerial photography, videography and airborne sensors in play for journalists across the United States."

The most common use will be taking footage of land, especially during times of disaster. Currently, the FAA is allowing some media organizations to use drones, but their drone operators have to have pilot's licenses. Under the new rules, journalists and other commercial drone operators would be able to get an alternative licensure to a pilot's license in order to be approved to operate drones.

Approval of Drone Data Collection Poses Privacy Questions

The Federal Aviation Administration has approved a company's request to operate 324 drones for "aerial data acquisition," which has prompted concerns from privacy advocates, Vice News' John Dyer reports. Jeramie Scott, national security counsel for the Electronic Privacy Information Center, told Dyer "'right now there are virtually no laws to address the commercial use of drones to collect massive amounts of data on the public.'"

Measure got an exemption from the FAA's current ban on commercial use of drones.

Dyer also notes that the rules the FAA are currently drafting to regulate drones don't address privacy and wouldn't mandate commercial drone operators disclose what data they're collecting.

FAA Will Clear Commercial Drones for Takeoff Within the Year

Federal Aviation Administration officials testified this week that they expect to finalize rules for commercial drone flights within the year, which is much faster than previous forecasts of the rules being finalized by the end of 2016 or the start of 2017, Reuters' David Morgan reports. He notes that American firms have been pressuring the FAA regulators to get the drone rules off the ground because of lost revenue.

FAA and Drone Industry Find Common Skies

The Federal Aviation Administration and the drone industry are finally starting to see eye to eye, The Washington Post's Matt McFarland reports. For example, the FAA now appears to be committed to testing if drones can be operated safely outside of the line of sight of operators, including by CNN. The cooperation between industry and the FAA is a change from when the governmental agency was highly criticized for missing deadlines for making commercial drone flights legal.

Appeal Filed to Compel FAA Drone Privacy Rules

The Electronic Privacy Information Center and other groups have appealed the Federal Aviation Administration's refusal to create privacy regulations for drones, IDG News Service's Martyn Williams reports. The groups are appealing to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.

When the FAA proposed rules governing the commercial use of drones, those rules did not mention privacy concerns, only safety rules. Instead, the White House has asked the National Telecommunications and Information Administration to address drones and privacy.

Internet Providers May Not Attack Net Neutrality in Court After All

Even though Internet providers are expected to challenge the new net neutrality rules in court, some companies may not go to court because they're seeking to get approval for their mergers, the Washington Post's Brian Fung reports. Comcast is trying to merge with Time Warner Cable, AT&T is trying to merge with DirecTV, and Verizon is trying to get approval for a deal with Frontier Communications.

FAA Seeking to Speed Up Approval for Commercial Drones

Federal Aviation Administration Michael Huerta testified in Congress Tuesday that his agency is seeking ways to speed up the approval process for commercial drones, Reuters reports. For example, the FAA is trying to address as a class similar applications from companies that are seeking exemptions from the current ban on commercial drone use. The FAA also finally released its proposed rules for integrating commercial drones into the American airspace last month, but the rulemaking could take nine months to three years to be finalized, Reuters also reports.

The Next Stage in Drone Regulation: Privacy

Now that the Federal Aviation Administration has released proposed rules for integrating small commercial drones into the American airspace, the next regulatory front for drones is privacy, Slate's Margot E. Kaminski reports. The FAA isn't going to set privacy rules for drones; instead, President Barack Obama issued a presidential memorandum giving federal agencies marching orders on only keeping data collected from drones for 180 days and ordering agencies not to "violate the First Amendment or discriminate against people based on ethnicity, race, gender, or national origin" through their use of drones.

State law may provide the protection for privacy from drones, Kaminski reports, but First Amendment challenges are likely to ensue against such regulation. Wisconsin may have the best model for regulating privacy vis-a-vis drones because that state's law hinges "on whether the subject of surveillance has a reasonable expectation of privacy," Kaminski reports.

FAA Would Require Drone Operators to Get Certified

Submitted by Amaris Elliott-Engel on Sun, 02/15/2015 - 11:19

After a period of long delays, the highly anticipated rules for the use of unmanned aircraft systems was released for public comment by the Federal Aviation Administration today.

The proposed rules for drones weighing 55 pounds or less include:

* requiring operators to pass a safety certificate test, although operators would not need to have a pilot’s license; 

* suggesting that there be a separate category of rules for drones weighing less than 4.4 pounds;

* not allowing UAS to fly more than 500 feet above the ground;

* keeping UAS within the line of sight of operators (being within the line of sight of one’s binoculars wouldn’t count);

* not allowing UAS to fly more than 100 miles per hour;

* not allowing drones to fly at night; 

* and not allowing drones to fly close to airports.

In a conference call with reporters this morning, Anthony Foxx, Secretary of Transportation, said the rule addresses how to keep UAS clear of other aircraft and how to mitigate any risk to people and property on the ground.

Michael Huerta, administrator of the FAA, said that “this proposed rule provides a very flexible framework.”

He also noted that the reason for developing a separate licensing category for drone flights is that operating a drone “is fundamentally different from being a private pilot.”

Huerta also noted that the FAA doesn’t want to to require UAS manufacturers to get airworthiness certificates for their drones because such a rigorous safety standard would take too long and make drone technology obsolete by the time it was approved for the market.

During the conference call, one reporter asked if the proposal to require drones be flown within the line of sight of operators would squelch Amazon’s plans to eventually use drones to deliver packages. Huerta said that, while “the rule does contemplate that there would be line of sight activity,” the FAA has a research program for the use of UAS beyond the line of sight of operators. There also is an exemption process to allow “special uses” of commercial drones, he said.

“This isn’t the final word on the full scope of UAS operations,” Huerta said.

The proposed rules only regard commercial uses, not recreational uses.

Drone Rules Remain in the Hangar in 2014

The U.S. government missed a deadline at the end of 2014 to issue rules on drones, Reuters' Alwyn Scott and Robert Rampton reports. While the Federal Aviation Administration has given a draft of the rules to the White House, the Office of Management and Budget has not finished reviewing them yet.

Reuters also reports that the Motion Picture Association of America and other industry groups want the FAA rules to preempt state or city laws regulating the use of drones.

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