drone laws

In a landmark case, a Canadian film company and its drone pilot have been slapped with a $22,500 fine for operating a drone too close to a pod of Northern Resident Killer Whales (NRKWs) off Vancouver Island. This is the first time a fine was issued in Canada for the unlawful use of a drone to capture killer whale footage.

On what was supposed to be the start of a relaxing vacation, a 68-year-old Chinese tourist found himself tangled in legal trouble for flying a DJI drone illegally over Singapore’s iconic Marina Bay.

New data from the airspace security specialist Dedrone has revealed a concerning trend: one-third of all drone flights on the busiest drone flying day of the year, July 4th, violate FAA rules.

A 60-year-old has been arrested by New York State Police for menacing in the second degree and fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon. The arrest followed an incident on June 18, when Ogdensburg resident Joseph H. Dishaw allegedly shot down a neighbor’s drone using a shotgun.

The governor of Maryland, Wes Moore, has signed into law a new bill that aims to restrict the use of drones near correctional facilities. Unauthorized drone operations in the vicinity of state prisons and jails will soon attract imprisonment of up to three years and/or a $1,000 fine.

As US-China relations deteriorate with both nations engaging in a complex geopolitical rivalry, fears over espionage and technology misuse are also becoming rampant. Chinese drone maker DJI is already facing a potential ban in the US amid national security concerns. And later this month, a Chinese student at the University of Minnesota is scheduled to appear in court for allegedly using a drone to capture sensitive photos of US military installations.

The most recent in a long series of US government agency and legislative initiatives to squeeze DJI drones from the domestic market targets a critical user category in particular: lifesaving first responder organizations. Given the literally existential stakes that the bill poses, DJI has responded with a detailed arguments against its eventual passage into law.

Police, fire, emergency response units, and other official agencies in Connecticut will be able to continue operating their DJI drones in the line of duty, after a proposal to ban their use failed to pass a legislative deadline Thursday.

Legislators in Connecticut have taken a significant step toward banning the purchase and use of DJI drones by state and municipal agencies, after a Democrat-led majority of Senate members passed a draft law phasing out use of the company’s UAVs over the weekend.

Anyone flying a drone in the United Kingdom is responsible for flying within the guidelines and regulations established by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA). That means it’s your responsibility as a drone pilot to understand the rules and identify safe flying areas. This is where the Drone Scene platform steps in to assist you.

A landmark case on public access to video shot by law enforcement drones has taken a decisive turn, with the California Supreme Court’s denial of a Chula Vista Police Department motion seeking to keep its aerial footage confidential.

It is now illegal for anyone to pilot a commercial drone in St. Louis in what could be considered a surveillance operation without written permission from the city, thanks to a single, divisive operator.

When lethal legislation takes too long, attack with tariffs. That’s the logic of Washington lawmakers now calling on the Biden Administration to increase import fees on DJI drones, even as they continue pushing a draft law to prohibit operation of those same UAVs in the US.

At this point it’s pretty clear the US has an invasive drone problem – and a large one at that – though it’s still anyone’s guess who’s piloting the craft, or what authorities are going to do about controlling them.

The drive to ban DJI drones in the US has now crossed into the darkly comical – and ludicrously informed – with an effort reportedly afoot in Connecticut by state legislators to halt municipalities from operating the craft.

Scarcely a week goes by anymore without new efforts being announced to tighten bans on DJI drone operation in the US and this is one no exception, amid national and state activities to effectively and legally ground UAVs produced by the market leader.

Global drone leader DJI has come under increasingly intense pressure in the US, as successive federal and state measures banning its craft for official use have proliferated amid worsening relations with China – and accompanying security concerns. Though accusations by politicians that DJI UAVs leak data to Chinese authorities have never been substantiated – and flatly denied by the company – the blacklisting has reportedly undermined the firm’s former 70%-plus US market share down to what some estimates say is closer to half now. 

In another example of isolated obnoxious drone operation producing regressive rules for all users, St. Louis is finalizing an ordinance requiring anyone flying UAVs for commercial purposes to obtain a specific city authorization, in addition to having a Federal Aviation Administration Part 107 license. 

Legislators in Arizona are lining up in the procession of authorities across the US looking to ban the use drones made by global leader DJI, citing the company’s China origins as motivating their security justifications.

Multiple social media platforms have come down hard on the account of a Colorado-based developer who used his drone to provoke and film homeless people, ultimately setting the videos to mocking music before posting them online.

A Canadian-Russian woman has pleaded guilty in a US court to participating in a multimillion-dollar plot to send American components to Russia for use in drones and guided missile systems.