[Robert DeLong]

I can see the need for controlling the usage of drones, but this case is an absolute travesty of justice.

[Flick Lives]

“[The FAA] basically wants to scare you,” Sachs said. “They want to set an example or make an example out of you. Most people do not retain legal counsel, and they should. Nobody should ever talk to the FAA without an attorney present. They’re not there to help you. The FAA is there to fish for information to use against you.”

The FAA sees the American people as nothing more than sheep to be shorn. They don't give a rat's ass about actual safety.

[raybbr]

“If you’re flying for a hobby, then you’re not aircraft and not covered by anything the FAA would say unless you’re endangering something,” Taylor said.

Because the FAA has yet to publish its regulations for commercial drone use, it has instead instructed any operator looking to fly a drone for nonhobby use to attain a Section 333 exemption.
SNIP
“To operate under a [Section 333] exemption, you have to have a pilot’s license. That’s a big barrier to a guy who just wants to fly a $1,200 multirotor device,” Hanson told The Daily Signal. “There are a number of people out there flying under the radar, and they’re playing ‘catch me if you can.’”

So, you can fly a drone as a hobby without a license. But if you take one picture you have to have 333 exemption which requires a pilot's license.

WE need more laws and regulations!

[stinkerpot65]

It’s all about power and oppression of the individual for Obama’s thugs.

[IFly4Him]

He won’t pay anywhere near that in the end (assuming his facts are correct). The FAA looks at “commercial activity” differently than commonly understood. The attorney from FL had it right about indirect benefit (money does not need to exchange hands). Same rules prevent private pilots from recruiting third parties from creating a pseudo charter. That being said, they probably need to write a separate standard for drones.

[RegulatorCountry]

Sounds like somebody lobbied and succeeded for regulation to protect a traditional aerial photography business.