WP: Drones Home In On Property Rights

Mark The Droner

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On the front page of the Washington Post (print edition) this morning:

You may be powerless to stop a drone from hovering over your own yard

Drones Home In On Property Rights

imrs.php


William Merideth had just finished grilling dinner for his family when he saw a drone hovering over his land. So he did what he said any Kentuckian might do — he grabbed his Benelli M1 Super 90 shotgun, took aim and unleashed three rounds of birdshot.

“The only people I’ve heard anything negative from are liberals that don’t want us having guns and people who own drones,” said the truck company owner, now a self-described “drone slayer.” Downing the quadcopter, which had a camera, was a way to assert his right to privacy and property, he said.

The drone was owned by John Boggs, a hobbyist, who told authorities he was trying to take pictures of the scenery. He argues in a lawsuit filed this month in U.S. District Court in Louisville that Merideth did not have the right to shoot the craft down because the government controls every inch of airspace in America.

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If one can believe the iPad video replay from the DJI GO app of David Boggs here, then we have a serious problem when judges can dismiss evidence and then dismiss charges related to the discharging of a firearm into the air within city limits and in violation of related laws...

I'll be the first to support the right to privacy but we've got to do a better job educating people about what can actually be seen on the ground from an altitude of 200+ feet... certainly at the time, the pilot can't see such details as "daughter sunbathing"....
 
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