drone laws

It’s the sort of legal conflict likely to proliferate as the number of UAVs flown by private users continues to multiply. A couple in Massachusetts is threatening “criminal harassment” charges against neighbors who used drones to capture video evidence of continuing motocross races on their property that officials previously ordered to cease.

The US House of Representatives passed a bipartisan bill today that aims to earmark up to $200 million in spending for drones use in wide-ranging inspections of the nation’s aging infrastructure. 

Ahead of Thursday night’s kickoff of the National Football League’s (NFL) 2022 season, officials stepped up to reiterate concerns about the looming expiration of legislation that allows a limited number of federal agencies to take out drones invading airspaces or otherwise posing threats during large events.

A US district judge has ruled that Brooklyn-based media production company Xizmo can proceed with its lawsuit challenging New York City’s local “Avigation Law,” which effectively bans the use of drones in the city. Interestingly, this avigation rule was originally adopted into New York City’s Administrative Code in 1948, way before small civilian drones even existed.

Ireland is expected to hear debate later this year on proposed legislation that would allow the nation’s police force, An Garda Síochána, expanded use of drones for surveillance and other missions that critics claim pose data use and personal privacy risks.

A $13,000 DJI M300 RTK drone was fired upon multiples time by a vacationer last week while the aircraft was inspecting critical infrastructure in the Netherlands. UAS service provider Zero Gravity Drone, which was conducting the inspection, says it has filed a complaint with the local police.

A bipartisan bill has been introduced in the Senate that seeks to create the mechanisms and allot $100 million in funding for the deployment of drones in infrastructure inspections overseen by local, state, and US government entities.

US lawmakers, government officials, and even major sports organizations are stepping up to back a Biden administration call to create legislation that would considerably expand the number of actors permitted to undertake anti-drone measures to neutralize potential threats from UAVs.

The state legislature of Hawai‘i is moving closer to passing a law that would prohibit the use of drones for fishing, which supporters call both unfair and a threat to traditional methods of manually casting from the shore relying on physical strength and technique.

A Singaporean man has been slapped with a $37,000 fine (SGD $51,000) for flying a DJI Mavic 2 Zoom drone unlawfully in September 2020. If he’s unable to pay the fine, the drone pilot will face a jail time of 100 days.

A federal court has ruled a Texas law considerably limiting the use of drones to be unconstitutional, particularly articles restricting images collected by journalists using UAVs in their reporting.

A trio of US Senators has launched a bipartisan effort to create comprehensive federal law that will specifically criminalize most forms of dangerous drone use, from terror and trafficking activity to interfering with public responders to emergencies.

An Iranian court on Tuesday sentenced a French man to eight years in prison on charges of spying. Benjamin Brière, 36, was arrested in May 2020 for flying a recreational drone in the desert near the Turkmenistan-Iran border while on vacation in Iran.

French police will again be permitted to use drones for surveillance and certain other law enforcement purposes, the nation’s constitutional authority has ruled, ending the nearly two-year legal ban of that activity on grounds it posed privacy violation risks.

The growing popularity of drones as a holiday gift has got the agency that leads New Jersey’s counterterrorism and cybersecurity efforts worried. The New Jersey Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness (NJOHSP) is both asking new pilots to familiarize themselves with aviation rules and safety guidelines, and cautioning the public to take heed of suspicious drone activities.

The tumult in the UK over drones live-streaming horse races to provide an advantage to clients in betting rings has reached a new pitch, with clearly displeased and disapproving politicians joining the debate. Their earnest outrage notwithstanding, the desire to thwart the lucrative practice continues to be undermined by a confounding consideration: The activity isn’t illegal under existing laws.

A pair of draft bills introduced to Ohio’s legislature outlines restrictions for drone flights by both private individuals and police forces in what, if passed, would be the state’s first laws regulating operation beyond Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) guidelines.

The practice of flying drones to live-stream UK horse races – and thereby giving viewers betting on the outcomes an advantage – has come to a head again, with pilots battling parimutuel, track, and legal officials seeking to shut the profitable activity down.

In response to complaints from a resident, the city of Hamilton, Ohio has passed a proposal to outlaw drone-based invasions of privacy. The legislation, approved last week, makes it illegal to use drones “to invade the privacy of another’s home, office, enclosed space, or the private space of another.”

After junking a contentious drone policy that made industry compliance virtually impossible, India has published new “Drone Rules, 2021” with an aim to become a “global drone hub” by 2030.

India’s most populous state, Uttar Pradesh, wants to make its capital city, Lucknow, safer for women. And it wants to do so by establishing a broad-ranging surveillance setup that uses tools such as drones, facial recognition-enabled CCTV cameras, and AI-based video analytics. However, in the absence of robust data privacy laws, critics fear the program will infringe upon the privacy of citizens in a state infamous for communal polarization.