Amazon Drones On the Horizon?

Look! Up in the sky! It’s a bird. It’s a plane. It’s a package. Amazon has received FAA approval to use drones to deliver packages:

“Amazon did not say when customers could expect drones to drop packages at their doorsteps. Obtaining the F.A.A. certificate was an ‘important step,’ the company said, adding that it would continue to test the technology, which has been in development for years.” — “Drone Delivery? Amazon Moves Closer With F.A.A. Approval,” Concepción de León, New York Times

Alphabet’s Wing and UPS already have FAA approval for drone delivery.

More:

“Amazon Prime Air lands FAA approval for drone deliveries,” Carrie Mihalcik CNET

“Amazon receives U.S. regulatory approval to start drone delivery trials,” Nilanjana Basu and Neha Malara, Reuters

Update:

“No, Amazon Won’t Deliver You a Burrito by Drone Anytime Soon,” Aarian Marshal, Wired

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New Jersey: Don’t Drone While Drunk

Last Monday, before leaving the Governor’s office, New Jersey’s Chris Christie signed a law making it illegal to fly aerial drones while drunk. Anyone flying a drone in the Garden State with a blood alcohol content of 0.08 percent or higher or while drugged faces up to six months in jail, a $1,000 fine, or both. Flying drones near a prison or while pursuing wildlife is also banned.

Good luck with that. While all of Washington DC is a no-drone zone, nearly a hundred of the things flew over sensitive military sites in the area last summer, and a drunk off-duty federal intelligence employee crashed a hobby drone right onto the White House lawn in 2015.

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The Drone Film Festival

Highlight montage from the 2016 New York Drone Film Festival. 174 seconds of UAV videos.

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Amazon. Airborne!

Press Release:

“Amazon Prime Air is a future service that will deliver packages up to five pounds in 30 minutes or less using small drones. Flying under 400 feet and weighing less than 55 pounds, Prime Air vehicles will take advantage of sophisticated ‘sense and avoid’ technology, as well as a high degree of automation, to safely operate beyond the line of sight to distances of 10 miles or more.”

What could possibly go wrong?

No Drone Zone

Hey kids! The folks at the Federal Aviation Administration remind you that you can’t fly drones in and around Washington, DC.  It’s a No Drone Zone.

More:

“Drone Operator Detained in Front of White House,” Julie Zauzmer and Mark Berman, Washington Post

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Drones Over Paris

Mysterious drones have flown over Paris for two nights, hovering over the Bois de Boulogne, Elysee Palace, Place de la Concorde, Les Invalides, U.S. Embassy, the Eiffel Tower and other landmarks. Reporters are having a field day speculating about the little unmanned aerial vehicles. Reporters from AJ made things even worse with their coverage, flying a camera drone over the City of Light for some POV footage before they were nabbed by panicky gendarmes.

The remote-controlled mini aircraft have been whizzing around France since October, over major roads and nuclear power plants, but these earlier drone flights were by hobbyists. It’s likely these Parisian ones were, too. Flying drones in French cities without a permit is forbidden, even in daylight, and there’s a steep fine. You can see why people would want to do it, though:

Drone Defense

On September 26th, a man in Lower Township, NJ shot down a neighbor’s drone quadcopter that was hovering over his yard and taking photos. Police decided that the small aircraft posed no immediate threat, and arrested the gunman on weapons and criminal mischief charges. Laws about personal drone incursions aren’t clear, so this case may establish precedent.

More:

— “Man Shoots Down Drone, Lawyers Scratch Their Heads,” Kelsey D. Atherton, Popular Science

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Two Nobels

Pakistan’s Malala Yousafzai was awarded the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize. Last year, when she was nominated, Malala spoke with the 2009 Peace Prize winner, Baraka Obama. Her account of the meeting:

“I thanked President Obama for the United States’ work in supporting education in Pakistan and Afghanistan and for Syrian refugees. I also expressed my concerns that drone attacks are fueling terrorism. Innocent victims are killed in these acts, and they lead to resentment among the Pakistani people. If we refocus efforts on education it will make a big impact.”

Also awarded the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize: Kailash Satyarthi of India, who has campaigned against child labor. The countries of the two Peace Prize winners are long-time antagonists.

More:

“Nobel Prize winner Malala told Obama U.S. drone attacks fuel terrorism,” Anita Kumar, McClatchy Washington Bureau

“Don’t forget Malala Yousafzai’s appeal to Obama: end the drone war,” Zack Beauchamp, Vox

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A Drone in the Library

The New York Public Library let Nate Bolton fly a drone around inside its majestic Main Reading Room:

Remote Control: Congressional Drone Caucus

Drone aircraft, unmanned aerial vehicles or UAVs, have battled in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Sudan, Yemen, and, now, the United States House of Representatives. While it’s been flying under the radar until now, Congress has a Drone Caucus, officially the Unmanned Systems Caucus.

Congress has spent $12 Billion on UAVs since 2009, an amount that will increase dramatically now that domestic use of drones has been approved. Most of the new drones flying in the U.S. will be used for border security. Twenty-one congressmen from border states belong to the Drone Caucus, and the big drone manufacturers have donated around $1 Million to their campaigns. Expect that amount to ramp up, too.

More:

“The Drone Makers and Their Friends in Washington,”Jill Replogle, KPBS