Los Angeles, CA —Officials here recently claimed that drone operators endangered lives by halting firefighting efforts.  Angry local politicians vowed prosecution and new legislation to remedy this “huge and life threatening ” problem. Photographic evidence supporting those reports is non-existent .  You’d think the crew members presumably are all armed with smart phones would have captured images to help identify the drones to assist investigators.  There are no pictures because this never happened!  Needless to say there are no captured drones either. As for those helicopter pilots making these reports they seem to forget that their massive propeller’s, prop wash would simply blow any little cameras drones away from their aircraft into oblivion.  A near miss happened? Really?  The high cost of these camera drones makes their owners very protective of their investments.  If they are reckless and crash them, all the the fun is over. According...

UPDATE!!! I'm pleased to report that the town council tabled the drone ban ordinance acknowledging it needed to be studied.  They put off consideration until October at the earliest.   A half-dozen or so people spoke against the ordinance and nobody supported it.   I'm glad the council had second thoughts since this was created out of fear and misunderstanding. Frankly I'm proud of their taking the high road.   As for those of you operating drones in Paradise Valley or for that matter anywhere, please fly safe and be considerate  of others.   Town of Paradise Valley, AZ —In arguably the most expensive real estate in the State of Arizona they are proposing the most draconian camera drone ban ever! The town’s council will be voting on this draft ordinance during their May 28, 2015 meeting.   They want to outlaw any use of a drone without a single use permit and fee.   It further outlaws the publishing of all aerial images in somewhat...

Washington, DC —The FAA was very tight lipped about the drone regulations they are drafting for public comment later this month.   An FAA official claims they are releasing a Risk Based Proposed Regulatory Program that will integrate commercial drones into the airspace.   Judging from today’s Congressional hearing they are attempting concentrate on educating the operators of small consumer drones and more serious regulation of anything else.   Oddly enough they never once mentioned using drones for news video news gathering and only touched lightly on filmmakers. Once they release their draft drone rule package it must be published and then there is a routine schedule for inviting public comment. Once that period passes the FAA will then set their rule in concrete.   That of course can be challenged later both by Congressional action and litigation. The FAA seems to be coming to grips that the small camera drone operator will be nearly impossible to re...

Phantom 2 with a GoPro HD camera targeted by LA politicians Los Angeles, CA —City Council Members Tom LaBonge , and Mitchell Englander have moved forward with a request for recommendations from the LAPD and other agencies on restricting or otherwise banning civilian drones. This is only the first step.   We will have to wait and see what develops and deal with any ordinance/s that they propose.   Once they have a proposed ordinance it must negotiate the legislative process that includes public comment.   We are  certainly  free to begin contacting members of the City Council now letting them know that the existing laws and FAA regulations are more than adequate to deal with any issues of public safety and privacy.  We need to let them know that any knee jerk reaction to media hype may seriously infringe on 1 st Amendment rights. News organizations, videographers, photographers, filmmakers have a right to gather and display their images. ...