Drone Owners Overwhelm Federal Government's Registration System http://dailysignal.com/2015/12/28/drone-owners-overwhelm-federal-governments-registration-system/ The Federal Aviation Administration appeared unprepared to accommodate the flood of new drone owners during the holiday season after requiring that Americans register their drones before lift off. The FAA shut down its registration page twice within two days after it launched last Monday because of high traffic. The FAA said last week an "overwhelming number of people" successfully registered, but "a small number of users reported performance issues," driving the site operators to temporarily suspend online registration for maintenance. The agency received more than 45,000 applications during the first two days of registration. Jason Snead, a policy analyst at The Heritage Foundation, faulted the agency for rushing the drone registry site's launch a few days before Christmas despite the projected uptick in drone purchases. "Since the FAA has now imposed outrageously steep criminal and civil penalties for flying an unregistered drone, if the site crashes or new drone owners can't register, they have only two options: sit on their Christmas gift until the government gets its act together, or commit a felony by flying what amounts to a toy around their yard," Snead said. The Consumer Technology Association predicted 400,000 drones would be purchased during the holidays. The anticipated surge in drone ownership pushed the FAA's two-month-old drone registry task force to recommend in late November that the agency establish a registration system to track those who own an unmanned aircraft system. The FAA launched its drone registry Dec. 21, requiring that anyone who owns an aircraft weighing between 0.55 and 55 pounds register it with the federal government before launching it into flight. Those who operated a drone prior to Dec. 21 must register by Feb. 19. Owners who miss the deadline or fly their drones before registering could be thrown into jail for up to three years or slapped with a criminal fine costing up to $250,000. Snead called the punishments "absurdly steep," noting that owners were given only seven days after the FAA announced its new regulations Dec. 15 to study and adjust to the new rules. The FAA reported more than 650 unauthorized drone sightings between Jan. 1 and Aug. 9. Reuters predicted the number would increase to 1,100 by the end of the year if sightings remain consistent. The spike in unauthorized drone sightings and the rising number of near collisions between unmanned aircraft and civilian planes drove the FAA to hastily establish its drone task force so that new regulations could be implemented before the holiday season. The Consumer Technology Association commended the task force's recommendations for aiming to regulate drone safety. But Snead said the new policy would likely do little to prevent careless or ill-intentioned drone owners from flying their aircraft into restricted airspace. The policy would also be limited in helping law enforcement track illegal drones, he added, because illicit aircraft would likely not be registered in the system. "The FAA's registry is an ineffective rush job and should be rescinded before it traps otherwise innocent drone owners in the web of overcriminalization," he said. The agency is not releasing the number of drones registered until free registration ends Jan. 20, the New York Daily News reported. Registration will cost $5 after the registration period's initial 30 days.
Drone Laws in NSW as of 21 December 2015 *You may NOT fly closer than 30m to vehicles, boats, buildings. *You are NOT allowed to fly over any populated areas such as beaches, other people's backyards, heavily populated parks or sports ovals where there is a game on. *You may NOT operate within a RADIUS of 5.5km of any aerodrome, airfield, airport, seaplanes taking off or landing, helicopter landing sites which may be located at hospitals, police stations or other locations that you may not be aware of. *You may ONLY operate during DAYLIGHT NO night flying! Only in good weather and you MUST be in visual-line-of-site of the Remotely Piloted Aircraft RPA. *You may NOT fly above 400ft (123m) *You may NOT fly FPV !! What does this translate to? Real Estate photographers will usually NOT be able to conform with ALL these conditions and will therefor REQUIRE a UAV Operator Certificate (UOC) which is the CASA certificate to operate legally. http://www.rpastraining.com.au/casr-101-uav-drone-legal-or-illegal http://www.rpastraining.com.au/casr-101-uav-drone-legal-or-illegal
Does "30m to vehicles, boats, buildings" include vertical distance? Or is it strictly cartesian distance?
Yep, just what I need so I can perv on my sexy neighbour sun baking. I already got one over a year ago but the resolution of the camera and stability of it hovering is not good for perving. New ones are much better. I been watching the prices on ebay dropping heaps over past year.
"You may NOT operate within a RADIUS of 5.5km of .......... locations that you may not be aware of." Classic Government rule
Only if you look good in a bikini A year ago I bought a cheapish drone with camera and discovered my neighbor often sun bakes in her backyard. Now that the price and quality of them is getting much better I think it is worth investing in another one for my past time