Is Disney using drones to fight off other
drones at Star Wars filming locations?
And is that legal?
The Den of Geek web site reported a while
back that the production crew for Star Wars
VIII had a problem with pests -- specifically,
the robotic flying kind. While the crew was
shooting in the UK, drones with cameras hovered
around locations, trying to capture images
and video. According to Den of Geek, things
were about to change as the crew prepared
to move to Croatia. The movie’s security
force would have some new members -- pilots
operating drones of their own with the mission
to bring down any pesky spies. And while drone-on-drone
combat can be exciting to watch, as proven
by organizations like the Aerial Sport League,
the question remains: is it legal if not all
parties are consenting? And by it, we mean
any of it. Is it legal to use drones to spy
on a movie production? Is it legal for a movie
crew to bring down a drone, whether with counterattack
drones or some other means? That’s where
we get into a pretty big mess. In the United
States, the Federal Aviation Administration
has been drafting rules for UAVs but the process
has been pretty slow. The FAA encourages drone
hobbyists to follow community-based guidelines,
which aren’t law. Those guidelines typically
include a section that says you’re not supposed
to use drones to spy on people or businesses.
If the drone operator is planning on selling
the images and video, then things get more
complicated. That bumps the pilot from hobbyist
to “civil operator.” To fly a drone legally
as a civil operator, you first must obtain
a Section 333 Exemption from the FAA that
allows for commercial airflight. And civil
operators are legally bound to follow more
rules than hobbyists. As for whether it’s
legal to bring down a drone, that’s largely
something that gets determined in individual
court cases. For example, last year William
Merideth was arrested for wanton endangerment
and criminal mischief for shooting down a
drone flying over his property. The judge
on the case dismissed all the charges. It’s
a mess is what we’re getting at. Technology
has once again outpaced the law and we’re
all left waiting to find out what happens
next. Will the skies be filled with drones
knocking each other to the ground? Will we
need to carry drone-proof umbrellas everywhere
we go? Or will the FAA take all the toys away
until we prove that we’re responsible enough
to use them appropriately?
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