Amazon essentially told the FAA to go to hell and they would do what they want until there is a “law” against using drones commercially in the US.
Just look at it this way, every pizza joint in your town, every grocery store, convenience store, hamburger joint, sandwich shop, real estate agent, “news” reporter, tv station and hobbyist flying 1,000 of these things over your small little town, all under 500’, all under no air traffic control. Naw, nothing could go wrong.
We shall see if the FAA has the gonads to do what is right or kowtow to the politicians.
There are laws regulating where RC airplanes can and can not fly. Drones shouldn’t be exempt from the same.
Every drone is going to have to have a state-issued transponder/license plate. Like a car. An infrastructure of tracking stations will have to be developed.
Regulators and lawyers will make a fortune.
It seems to me sometimes that every technological advance is a cost to freedom and an advantage to government.
The FAA lost the first round in court already. Additionally it has refused to openly engage in rule making on UAVs in the national airspace. What is going on is being slow rolled.
They cannot continue to put their head in the sand or they will simply be bypassed as they are today.