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AT Drones Inevitable

Restriction in squo hurt the drone market


LBB Editorial 14 [LBB editorial- independent company that covers issues concerning business privacy rights, 2014, “Above the Law: How Drone Laws Around the World Are Affecting Production,” http://www.lbbonline.com/news/above-the-law-how-drone-laws-around-the-world-are-affecting-production/, mm]

The land of the free? Not if you want to use drones to shoot commercials. “Drones are still not legal in our industry anywhere in the US. They are only legal for hobbyists,” explain the team at Park Pictures. According to the Federal Aviation Authority, flying a drone for commercial purposes in the States is illegal – sucks for film production, sucks for Amazon – but things are set to change. Congress has set a September 2015 deadline for the Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) to issue regulations for commercial drones. Even when these laws come into place, it looks like operators will face heavy restrictions, medical tests and licenses. However, delve a little deeper and you soon find that things are not so straightforward – the FAA’s authority on the matter was severely undermined earlier this year. In 2011 filmmaker Raphael Pirker was fined $10,000 for using a drone to capture shots of the University of Virginia for PR firms Lewis Communications. In March a federal judge overturned the ruling; while the FAA has said frequently that commercial drones are categorically illegal, judge Patrick Geraghty found that there were no specific laws preventing commercial UAVs and argued that the FAA’s authority over drones and model aircraft was questionable. In any case it’s a political hot potato, and the FAA are themselves challenging Judge Geraghty’s ruling… so unless you fancy an expensive, three year lawsuit it’s advisable to hang back on any plans to shoot with a drone in the USA until at least Autumn 2015 (although when any regulations might actually come into force is anyone’s guess). Oh and to make matters even more complicated, individual states are drawing up their own laws about how drones can and can’t be used – though these mainly relate to law enforcement agencies and restrictions on drones for use in surveillance. According to Lorenzo Benedick from Vagabond Films, the restrictions have had a negative impact on projects that his company has worked on and he believes that if the FAA can integrate commercial drones into US airspace then it will make a huge difference for the US production industry. “We had to kill a beautiful aerial shot for a client out in Pennsylvania, even though we were only shooting over and above their headquarters,” he says. One potential alternative for those hoping to get their drone on in North America is to head across the border into Canada, where commercial drones have been permitted since 1996. Operators need a licence called an Air Operator Certificate that specifically permits the use of UAVs. What’s more, every commercial drone flight requires a Special Flight Operations Certificate (SFOC) that outlines the geographic area in which the drone is permitted to fly. It takes at least 20 working days for an SFOC to be granted, so producers need to bear that in mind. Consent is also required for commercial images taken of private property.

Drones Bad Scenarios

Privacy

1NC

The drone market is awful for privacy


Smouse, 14

Becca Smouse, columnist for ASU, “Private drone market threatens our privacy,” The State Press, 12/4/14, http://www.statepress.com/article/2014/12/private-drone-market-threatens-our-privacy/ // IS



The market for drones has significantly dropped in price and risen in popularity, allowing the intrusive devices to fall in the wrong hands of troublemakers and cause public unrest over privacy. A recent report by The New York Times shows police are increasingly responding to incidents involving the invasive use of drones in interrupting sporting events, stalking hunters and recording public prank attempts. “It’s now in the hands of all types of people — good people, bad people, tricksters, pranksters, kids,” Patrick Egan, editor at sUAS News, told The New York Times. All hell is going to break loose as far as the shenanigans that are perpetrated with drones.” While the footage seems harmless, the public is starting to question the legality of individuals using drones to record without the subject’s consent. Drones have become a one-stop-shop for spying and snooping on others. However, little regulation impacts the use of drones in a public setting, especially those who fly for fun. The Federal Aviation Administration lists three types of aircrafts allowed in public: civil unmanned aircraft systems, public UAS, and model aircraft, according to Business Insider. These devices can be flown freely without regulation, but businesses must get approval from the F.A.A. All devices must remain below 400 feet. The F.A.A. stops there, leaving the door wide open for mischief-makers to pick up a drone and peep into the lives of the public without any cause for worry. “There’s very little in American privacy law that would limit the use of drones for surveillance,” Ryan Calo, an assistant professor at the University of Washington School of Law, told The New York Times. Drones have become a staple in research and investigations and have provided great coverage of sights from above. The use of drones shouldn’t be terminated, but strictly regulated for the average joe. The public is entitled to its privacy, and that should include protection from flying cameras peeping in and out of our lives. Drones could become real-life flying monkeys that follow us around if someone doesn’t put a foot down for privacy. "There are drones flying over the air randomly that are recording everything that’s happening on what we consider our private property,” Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor said while speaking at Oklahoma City University. “That type of technology has to stimulate us to think about what is it that we cherish in privacy and how far we want to protect it and from whom." Careless drone flying has also put other aircrafts in danger when in flight. Getting in the path of a large aircraft puts the lives of many at risk, a concern that would disappear with reasonable laws. Drone technology is quickly advancing and the dangers they pose are escalating at an even faster rate. The benefits of the device in the right hands are evolving the technology industry, but in the wrong hands, drones jeopardize our rights.


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