Another thanks to long term colleague Adena Schutzberg for her post. Turns out, just as was noted in an earlier blog this week that there are no laws currently on the books granting the FAA jurisdiction over commercial UAVs.
The case of Pirker v. Huerta, involved Swiss drone pilot who filmed a commercial in Virginia and was fined $10,000 by the FAA. The pilot was the only person the FAA has fined and Pirker fought back. The judge dismissed the FAA’s fine.
This to me is not necessarily good news. I do think the commercial use of UAVs needs to be regulated, but I don’t think it should take years to develop the regulations. That is unacceptable. As former Secretary of Transportation, I think it was Pena, once explained to his staff, “It takes 9 months to develop the most precious thing in the world. Everything else should take less time.” Or something like that.
