Interesting People mailing list archives
Re Don’t shoot down our drones
From: "Dave Farber" <farber () gmail com>
Date: Wed, 12 Sep 2018 13:03:01 +0900
Begin forwarded message:
From: Sidney Karin <skarin () ucsd edu> Date: September 12, 2018 at 12:48:25 GMT+9 To: "dave () farber net" <dave () farber net> Cc: "mary.shaw () gmail com" <mary.shaw () gmail com> Subject: Re: [IP] Re Don’t shoot down our drones For IP If you like. Dave, I completely agree with Mary. The relevant Federal Aviation Regulations, as I am certain that Mary knows, prohibit flight within 500 feet of any person or man made object except when landing or taking off. (See excerpt from FAR’s below.) That is for sparsely settled areas; recent court cases have defined other than congested areas far more broadly than is understood by most pilots. While there are exemptions for such as powered parachutes, there do not appear to be any for drones. There are never going to be large numbers of powered parachutes flying around and so the exemption in practice leads to little or no difficulty. Drones are another story, as Mary points out. If they do start taking backyard shortcuts for deliveries you can expect shotgun sales to increase dramatically. Cheers, ……Sid §91.119 Minimum safe altitudes: General. Except when necessary for takeoff or landing, no person may operate an aircraft below the following altitudes: (a) Anywhere. An altitude allowing, if a power unit fails, an emergency landing without undue hazard to persons or property on the surface. (b) Over congested areas. Over any congested area of a city, town, or settlement, or over any open air assembly of persons, an altitude of 1,000 feet above the highest obstacle within a horizontal radius of 2,000 feet of the aircraft. (c) Over other than congested areas. An altitude of 500 feet above the surface, except over open water or sparsely populated areas. In those cases, the aircraft may not be operated closer than 500 feet to any person, vessel, vehicle, or structure. (d) Helicopters, powered parachutes, and weight-shift-control aircraft. If the operation is conducted without hazard to persons or property on the surface— (1) A helicopter may be operated at less than the minimums prescribed in paragraph (b) or (c) of this section, provided each person operating the helicopter complies with any routes or altitudes specifically prescribed for helicopters by the FAA; and (2) A powered parachute or weight-shift-control aircraft may be operated at less than the minimums prescribed in paragraph (c) of this section. [Doc. No. 18334, 54 FR 34294, Aug. 18, 1989, as amended by Amdt. 91-311, 75 FR 5223, Feb. 1, 2010]On Sep 11, 2018, at 8:01 PM, Dave Farber <farber () gmail com> wrote: Begin forwarded message:From: Mary Shaw <mary.shaw () gmail com> Date: September 12, 2018 at 11:47:33 GMT+9 To: Dave Farber <dave () farber net> Subject: Re: [IP] Don’t shoot down our drones A different view on the situation -- the issue is not the drones, it's the access and the photography. I think it's deplorable that drones are not banned from private property. If someone is flying a drone in my back yard looking into my windows, I can apparently get arrested for capturing or disabling it. This seems to be a quirk of legacy airspace restrictions that have not been thoughtfully revisited with drones in mind. So I'm all for government transparency, and perhaps we need legislation providing access to government facilities to the press. But drones are poorly regulated and what regulations do exist are not enforced. So it's ok with me if we get legislation restricting where drones can go, IF AND ONLY IF those protections are available to everyone. I object in general, as well as in this instance, to my government exempting itself from rules that apply to everyone else. We should get this worked out before there's a steady stream of delivery drones shortcutting through my yard. In other words, they should set some sensible restrictions on where drones can fly -- and apply those rules to everyone, everywhere. They also need to provide access to government sites within reasonable limits (no photography of minor children, security mechanisms, classified materials, ...) Mary Mary ShawOn Tue, Sep 11, 2018 at 7:32 PM DAVID FARBER <dfarber () me com> wrote: Begin forwarded message:From: Elliot Harmon | EFF Activism Team <action () eff org> Date: September 12, 2018 at 7:55:01 AM GMT+9 To: dfarber () me com Subject: Don’t shoot down our drones Reply-To: Elliot Harmon | EFF Activism Team <action () eff org> This is a friendly message from the Electronic Frontier Foundation. When government agencies hide their activities from the public, private drones can be a crucial tool for transparency and oversight. When the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) barred photographs and videos of its controversial detention centers, journalists were able to use drones to document abuses at those sites. But right now, some lawmakers are working to dismantle this powerful reporting tool. A proposed law would give the DHS and the Department of Justice the power to intercept and destroy private drones it considers a “threat,” with no safeguards ensuring that that power isn’t abused. To make it worse, members of Congress are expected to vote on these powers as part of a routine Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reauthorization bill, with no chance for meaningful debate on how best to limit the government’s authority to intercept or destroy drones. We can’t hand the right to take over or shoot down private drones to the DHS and DOJ, offices that are already notorious for their hostility to public oversight. Let’s tell Congress to reject the FAA authorization bill unless these powers are stripped from it. Don't give DHS and DOJ free reign to shoot down private drones Thank you, Elliot Harmon Activism Team Electronic Frontier Foundation Support our work to defend free speech and transparency About EFF The Electronic Frontier Foundation is the leading organization protecting civil liberties in the digital world. Founded in 1990, we defend free speech online, fight illegal surveillance, promote the rights of digital innovators, and work to ensure that the rights and freedoms we enjoy are enhanced, rather than eroded, as our use of technology grows. EFF is a member-supported organization. Find out more at https://eff.org. Activism | Impact Litigation | Technology This newsletter is printed from 100% recycled electrons. 815 Eddy Street, San Francisco, CA 94104 United States EFF appreciates your support and respects your privacy. Unsubscribe or change your email preferences, or opt out of all EFF email 815 Eddy Street San Francisco, CA 94109-7701 United StatesArchives | Modify Your Subscription | Unsubscribe Now++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Sidney Karin Ph.D., P.E. skarin () ucsd edu 858-534-5075 Professor Emeritus, Department of Computer Science and Engineering Director Emeritus, San Diego Supercomputer Center University of California, San Diego 9500 Gilman Drive La Jolla, CA 92093-0505
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- Re Don’t shoot down our drones Dave Farber (Sep 11)
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- Re Don’t shoot down our drones Dave Farber (Sep 11)
- Re Don’t shoot down our drones Dave Farber (Sep 12)