Post by Logan on Jan 20, 2016 20:34:06 GMT -6
Using a drone to help fix power lines is OK. Using a drone to spy on a sunbathing neighbor is not OK. But drawing a legal distinction between good drones and bad drones may be a tricky task for the Virginia General Assembly.
Several legislators have proposed new laws to give property owners more privacy from proliferating eyes in the sky. The patrons seemed to have difficulty Wednesday convincing a House of Delegates subcommittee their proposals were narrow enough to outlaw “creepy stuff,” a term used throughout the meeting, without hurting a fast-emerging industry.
Proponents said their bills were aimed at surveillance and harassment, but committee members pointed out that, as written, some of the bills would make it a crime to use a camera-rigged drone in your own backyard if the photos also showed a neighbor’s property, even if the drone didn’t cross the property line.
“It’s just not illegal,” said Del. Robert B. Bell, R-Albemarle, the chairman of the House Courts of Justice subcommittee on criminal laws, which took up a block of eight drone-related bills. “It’s not actionable. It’s not anything.”
Continued at www.richmond.com/news/virginia/government-politics/article_c7331dea-6596-571e-b80f-bceed07914e7.html .
Several legislators have proposed new laws to give property owners more privacy from proliferating eyes in the sky. The patrons seemed to have difficulty Wednesday convincing a House of Delegates subcommittee their proposals were narrow enough to outlaw “creepy stuff,” a term used throughout the meeting, without hurting a fast-emerging industry.
Proponents said their bills were aimed at surveillance and harassment, but committee members pointed out that, as written, some of the bills would make it a crime to use a camera-rigged drone in your own backyard if the photos also showed a neighbor’s property, even if the drone didn’t cross the property line.
“It’s just not illegal,” said Del. Robert B. Bell, R-Albemarle, the chairman of the House Courts of Justice subcommittee on criminal laws, which took up a block of eight drone-related bills. “It’s not actionable. It’s not anything.”
Continued at www.richmond.com/news/virginia/government-politics/article_c7331dea-6596-571e-b80f-bceed07914e7.html .