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U.S. Will Require Drones to Be Registered

nbcnews.com

11–20 of 159 posts

Re: U.S. Will Require Drones to Be Registered

#11

I love the progress drones have given our society. From surveying property to beautiful aerial views in a video to cool view of your kids soccer game to just plain fun. Drones are amazing. You can buy a great drone and get amazing shots over and over for less than it would cost to hire a helicopter once. However, they also pose a risk. I'd favor a simple registration process and clear cut rules that are not infringin…

But then again, what if people start harvesting people's identities from the drones through the identifier? I think it's a neat idea, but it straddles the 4th Amendment line and could potentially expose your identity to people who don't like drones.

Re: U.S. Will Require Drones to Be Registered

#12
post #5

In case anyone is reading from NBC, would you mind using the term "UAV" or "RPA" over "drone"? When we throw around the word "drone" here on reddit and hacker news I feel like it's okay because many of us know the key differences between what we're flying and the hellfire raining completely terrifying semi-automated flying death machines deployed in war-zones around the world. However, many people who read your artic…

I'm with you, but at some point the battle is lost, and you're throwing good effort after bad.

People can be pretty stubborn about that, look at the title of this website. :-)

The battle about the meaning of hacker (vs. cracker) was lost in the 80ies, yet some communities continue to use it in the old sense of the word to set themselves apart.

Re: U.S. Will Require Drones to Be Registered

#14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm with you, but at some point the battle is lost, and you're throwing good effort after bad.

People can be pretty stubborn about that, look at the title of this website. :-) The battle about the meaning of hacker (vs. cracker) was lost in the 80ies, yet some communities continue to use it in the old sense of the word to set themselves apart.

>The battle about the meaning of hacker (vs. cracker) was lost in the 80ies, yet some communities continue to use it in the old sense of the word to set themselves apart.

Part of the reason for that is the hacker community made up a word that no self respecting person would use to describe themselves. The modern 'computer hacking' culture came out of the phreaker community and IMO is the proper description for this activity: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phreaking

Re: U.S. Will Require Drones to Be Registered

#15
post #5

In case anyone is reading from NBC, would you mind using the term "UAV" or "RPA" over "drone"? When we throw around the word "drone" here on reddit and hacker news I feel like it's okay because many of us know the key differences between what we're flying and the hellfire raining completely terrifying semi-automated flying death machines deployed in war-zones around the world. However, many people who read your artic…

> However, many people who read your articles might not be so well informed. Many people have an incorrect and confused understanding of them and to them the word "drone" carries that jumbled mess of an associations.

Do you actually know anyone who has made this mistake? I've heard scores of people online claim this, but I've never met anyone who has actually met someone with this confusion. Who reads this article and thinks that the US government is preparing to announce that large privately-owned unmanned airplanes armed with missiles are going to require registration? I find it incredibly hard to believe that anyone who isn't mentally ill would make this mistake.

In my experience, everyone in the US is quite capable of determining the meaning of "drone" from context. I've flown drones in parks and had dozens of people ask me about them. They may call them "drones," but there's no confusion. Not only that, but there's no fear or apprehension. People think they're cool, which they are.

Somewhat humorously, I think most of the FUD about public perception of consumer drones actually comes from the RC model aircraft community (of which I am a part, I suppose). I do not think it is based in reality.

Re: U.S. Will Require Drones to Be Registered

#17
post #5

In case anyone is reading from NBC, would you mind using the term "UAV" or "RPA" over "drone"? When we throw around the word "drone" here on reddit and hacker news I feel like it's okay because many of us know the key differences between what we're flying and the hellfire raining completely terrifying semi-automated flying death machines deployed in war-zones around the world. However, many people who read your artic…

I'm with you, but at some point the battle is lost, and you're throwing good effort after bad.

I agree that it's a waste of effort, and that the battle is lost even if you had a solid argument, but you don't. "Drone" has been used to refer to unmanned aircraft since at least as far back as World War 2.

This article is a good summary:

http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB100014241278873241104045786258...

Re: U.S. Will Require Drones to Be Registered

#18
post #5

In case anyone is reading from NBC, would you mind using the term "UAV" or "RPA" over "drone"? When we throw around the word "drone" here on reddit and hacker news I feel like it's okay because many of us know the key differences between what we're flying and the hellfire raining completely terrifying semi-automated flying death machines deployed in war-zones around the world. However, many people who read your artic…

I disagree that drone is wrong here. It's not clear to me that UAV or RPA is any clearer - certainly I expect a lot fewer people are familiar with RPA as a term, and I'm not convinced that UAV has any fewer connotations. I think the term 'civilian drone' might give the right impression.

Re: U.S. Will Require Drones to Be Registered

#19

I love the progress drones have given our society. From surveying property to beautiful aerial views in a video to cool view of your kids soccer game to just plain fun. Drones are amazing. You can buy a great drone and get amazing shots over and over for less than it would cost to hire a helicopter once. However, they also pose a risk. I'd favor a simple registration process and clear cut rules that are not infringin…

What is registration supposed to do? Broadly, those who will register are responsible enough to not be a problem, those idiots you want to control won't register, and it all just ends up mostly harassing the wrong people. Have and enforce laws against bad behavior, yes, but stop this "guilty until proven innocent" nonsense.

Re: U.S. Will Require Drones to Be Registered

#20
post #3

And now we hope that their definition of "drone" doesn't include traditional RC aircraft, ten-dollar indoor micro-quadcopters, paper airplanes, RC cars, model rockets, or children's balloons. Edit: oh, and that it does include commercial airliners under autopilot, military aircraft under autopilot, NASA-scale rocket launches, and military guided missiles and cruise missiles.

Somehow I have a feeling commercial aircraft, military aircraft, and rocket launches are already registered with the US government. Just a feeling.
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