Technology is changing the way the world operates every day; things people use from a day to day basis were not even invented ten years ago. Transportation technology has sparked in the last century cutting transit times to a fraction of what it took before the railroad, cars, and planes.  By looking at the new technological advances known as drones, we can see that the rules and regulations are falling behind the advancements, we can also notice that the drone market is moving into the civilian sector and that new laws are needed, and lastly the FAA needs to make laws for each sector separately, the military and the civilian, because drones in these sectors are being used for different goals. 

To understand where Aviation is going, you must first be familiar with how it evolved. In her article “The Federal Aviation Administration: A Historical Perspective, 1903-2008”, Theresa Kraus discusses the first flight ever recorded by the Wright Brother’s in North Carolina that lasted 17 seconds all the way to futuristic technology that can travel the universe. The way the Federal Aviation Administration developed gave little room for interpretation when it came to manned aircraft, for the were the “Police of the skies”. Kraus concludes her article with the idea that Aviation, like locomotives, are bound to take over the transportation industry. Drones just like the computer, started off being a military asset. Major technological advances get their birth in the military and with such useful tools the demand in the civilian sector begins to take over. 

The transition between military use and civilian use is a broad yet sensitive subject. In John Oliver’s video, “Drones: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)” Oliver discusses two main flaws of the FAA and drones. Oliver stated early in his broadcast, “Congratulations America! We have officially made kids in foreign countries afraid of the sky!” He stated this because drones are constantly circling these 3rd world countries in hopes to target terrorist leaders or followers. Another reason this is true is because drones are only on patrol during clear sunny skies, they do not patrol when there is threat of server weather. The second statement stems off the 2002 drone strike, where pentagon officials released information about the first drone strikes being used, when asked why they killed an innocent man they responded with, “he fit the height requirements to be Bin Laden.” This set the tone from the pentagon and the FAA that there are no “real” regulations and guidelines to follow when the military issues a drone strike. 

Another flaw with drones occurs in Ciara Bracken-Roche’s document called, “Domestic Drones: The Politics of Verticality and the Surveillance Industrial Complex.” Bracken-Roche’s article discusses an event that took place in Ontario Canada in 2016. Canadian Police were standing by as peaceful protestors were protesting on a rural road. At first the tensions were mellow and the police were just there incase anything got out of hand or something happened in the crowd of people. After a while the crowd got so big the police force launched its drone to keep an eye on the crowd a watch over them. Some of the protestors immediately felt the tensions between protestor and police rise. Reasons for this were believed to be that the use of the drone was “dehumanizing” and that the reputation of the drone was that they are used to “target and assassinate” it’s targets overseas. This was not overseas, this was back home and the tensions were rising very quickly between police and protestor. I agree with Ciara Bracken-Roche’s point to an extent. Drones can be very intimidating at times depending on the situation, but classifying all drones as machines only used to “target and assassinate” is equivalent to saying that all Muslims are a part of a terrorist group. That idea that because one person or one drone looks like this, they are all capable of killing and causing havoc to its targets. I agree with Bracken-Roche to an extent, but I would also add do not stereotype everything and everyone by the actions of a few. 

Although there have been a few occurrences where the use of drones is questionable, there are a few events that drones have helped save lives. Two articles that help show this are, Brian Handwerk’s “5 Surprising Drone Uses (Besides Pizza Delivery)”, and Ben Loh’s “Game of Drones”. First Handwerk discusses 3 uses of drones to help people. These uses include, 3-D mapping, protecting wildlife, and search and rescue missions. Drones are used in a variety of careers, including real estate, malaria mapping, and geographical mapping. As of late there has been a spark of drone usage in real estate. Agents use the drones to show the house they are trying to sell from a bird’s eye view. Not only does it give the potential buyer a view of the layout around them but it also gives them an interesting viewpoint they might not have seen originally. Secondly drones have been used recently in malaria outburst. As odd as this sounds, drones have been flying around in mosquito infested areas with little ports it uses to trap the mosquitos. Then the drone flies back to the scientist where they use the mosquito’s DNA to try and help malaria outbreaks. Lastly in both the civilian and military sectors, drones have been used to 3-D map an area that we know little about. Things that are detected are mountains, surrounding land forms, and even lakes and rivers. Handwerk’s article also discusses the use of drones in natural disasters. Things like hurricanes and blizzards have had rescue missions led by drones. The use of drones in these situations are crucial. They maximize man power and are cost efficient. They way this works is you send out a drone with a camera and GPS tracking and once the drone finds someone or something it sets of a location so the rescue team knows exactly where to go and what they are dealing with. Ben Loh’s article focuses solely on the natural disaster aspect of drones.

In his article Loh discusses his invention that he brought to his college class. It starts out by saying that, “He flew it around the room, then brought it closer to the stage until it dropped and started rolling around the stage”. Loh’s invention was made to go into burning buildings and roll around on the floor until it finds someone in need and then it sends of a GPS location tracker. Drones can be used to save lives and break through problems human’s come across. Although their past started out ugly and they were used for “targeting and assassinating” they have been transformed into useful tools for man to use to help save one another in the civilian market. 

Drones were not always accessible to the public, the FAA recently lifted the requirements you had to meet to own and operate a drone. These requirements included, permits, documentation, piolet licenses, and hours of training, only then to have to send a letter to the FAA to be approved or denied. Yet like the early American government after the revolutionary war, the FAA went from being extremely strict, to so relaxed that there were only a few regulations and rules. Samantha Masunaga’s article, “New Rules on Small Drones: What You Need to Know” talks about these changes. She goes over the basic rules the FAA implemented for civilian drone users. These rules include, the drone must have a visual line of sight to the operator, the drone cannot be flown above 400 feet in the air, you cannot film anyone who is not participating in the activity of the drone without their permission. Two of the more advanced rules the FAA released were, you cannot fly a drone at night without the proper anti-collision lights attached to each wing/propeller of the drone and you cannot fly a drone within a five-mile radius of any airport or federal government buildings. Although the FAA took a full swing in direction to their rules and regulations their change has been a stepping stone to transfer the use of drone technology from military use into the civilian sector. 

Ways drones are used in the civilian market are not always “lawful”. Michael Rosenwald’s article, “Prisons Try to Stop Drones from Delivering Drugs, Porn and Cell Phones to Inmates” talks about the need for new laws to be made to help protect and make jails a safer place for inmates and guards alike. In his article, he shows how lack of rules regarding federal prisons has become a major concern to the guards. Drones were being flown over the walls and into the prison and some of the drones were dropping off drugs and causing riots to break out within the courtyards of the prisons. This is a direct contribution to the lack of laws and regulations to accommodate the rapid advancement of technology. Rosenwald states, “a Smith and Wesson .308 pistol, with a full clip, weighs about 11.85 oz. A cheap drone bought at Walmart can carry up to 16 oz. within its basket.” This shows the concern Rosenwald has when it comes to the safety of himself and the safety off everyone within the confines of the prison. One thing about the FAA is their regulations for airports and other buildings that are used by the government, but why not prisons. Yet once again you cannot judge a group of people or things by the acts of a few. 

Another situation that involves this is the recent uprising of “peeping tom” drone users. Peeping tom is a term used to describe someone who video tapes someone else on their own property without their consent. In Pierlugi Paganini’s article, “Why Civilian Drone Use Is a Risky Business” he talks about the reoccurring arrest made by users using their drones for “peeping tom” cases. Two ways the FAA can counter this in the civilian sector is by making laws allowing homeowners to shoot down drones flying in or around their property without their permission via shotgun or by throwing rocks at the drone. The second way to prevent this from happening is by the FAA creating a law that makes drone buyers go through a background check to prohibit felons and child molesters from purchasing drones. Although this implementation of this law would be stricter on drone usage, it would not be as strict as what the FAA previously had in place for its drone users. There are some sick people in the world who are sick and misuse technology for criminal purposes, this being said I do not think that all drone users should be punished because out of all the people that use drones only a fraction of them use the drones for unintended purposes. 

Finally, I visited the website “Trackimo” that had two articles about people who use their drones for legal purposes. The first user was professional drone enthusiast Adam Andrews, he can be found in the nearest park flying his drone on the weekend as a hobby. Not only does he fly his drone for fun, he also uses his drone as a part of his work. He takes video of construction sites to map out how a building and area around a building will look upon completion. He is also known to take videos with his drone to create short films and stilt shots to help his business grow to a new level. Secondly on the “Trackimo” website was a video from drone users David and Sarah O’Neal who are the “Unofficial Face of Drones”. Their podcast “That Drone Show” is on the internet and has a big following to try and make civilian drone usage more socially friendly and accepted. All three of these drone professionals are all about drones. Yet they believe that the FAA can implement some new rules and regulations regarding drone usage so that it can be a more enjoyable experience and hobby. David O’Neal also mentions, “… people should not fear drones, they are a technological breakthrough that not only can save lives, but be an enjoyable experience if used in the appropriate settings.” Adam, David, and Sarah all promote the safety of the user and the people surrounding the user of a drone. 

Drones are not just used in the military anymore, their expansion to civilian markets allow people to use drones for things that could not be done before. That being saving lives in the event of natural disaster, or using drones to help push a business to the next level. Although I think that the FAA can draft some new rules and regulations to how drones are being used both in the civilian and military sectors, the concept of taking our service men and women out of harm’s way greatly out ways the few mishaps that have occurred from military drone operations. The FAA seriously needs to consider drafting new laws and regulations to hold the military and pentagon more accountable for their use of drones as assets on the battle field. Yet these viewpoints and conceptions of drones should not carry over into the civilian market because civilian drone usage is a great tool for business owners and first responders. Civilian drones and military drones are used for different purposes, the FAA needs to realize that rules and regulations for both of these sectors are not a “one size fits all”. With more technological breakthroughs happening as we speak, I feel as the FAA will reconsider their current rules and regulations and reform them so that military drone users are being held more accountable, and civilian drone users will be able to use their drones without fear of someone mistaking them for “a killing machine.” 
