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Government Input Devices Toys Hardware

In Ireland, All RC and Drones Over 1kg To Be Registered (suasnews.com) 108

Posted by timothy from the decree-went-out-from-caesar-augustus dept.
New submitter charliehotel writes: The Irish Aviation Authority announced that it will have its drone registry up and running by December 21st this year. This registry will be the first of its kind in Europe, and the Irish Aviation Authority will require all RPA / drones that weigh over 1kg to be registered; this includes model aircraft. I hope that the U.S.'s gathering storm of regulation doesn't start quite that small.
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In Ireland, All RC and Drones Over 1kg To Be Registered More

In Ireland, All RC and Drones Over 1kg To Be Registered

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  • The US will start smaller (Score:3)

    by Jay Maynard ( 54798 ) on Tuesday November 10, 2015 @09:40AM (#50900507) Homepage

    According to this story at AvWeb [avweb.com], the US registry will require registration of all drones over 250 grams.

    At least it will be free and simple, according to the story.

    • that actually seems reasonable to me something over half a pound going 30 miles an hour could do some damage. Simply having to register heavier drones seems like threshold to encourage less hazards in the sky.,

      • Re:The US will start smaller (Score:5, Funny)

        by Ol Olsoc ( 1175323 ) on Tuesday November 10, 2015 @09:55AM (#50900673)

        that actually seems reasonable to me something over half a pound going 30 miles an hour could do some damage. Simply having to register heavier drones seems like threshold to encourage less hazards in the sky.,

        Pfft This is just step on in taking our drones away from us. Soon the jack booted thugs will be busting into our houses at night to relive os of our rightful property.

        Well, they can take my drone when they pry it out of my cold, dead fingers.

        Jon the NDA today!

        • There is a famous (infamous?) movie where one party was asked to lay down the gun and it answered with:
          pry it out of my cold, dead fingers.
          The other party answered: "That proposal is aceptable!"

          As it had no use for the gun and did not care to wait till the corpse was cold, it just moved on.

          Bonus points if you know the movie, I actually liked it ;)

      • A lot of things can cause some damage. Like a 80kg guy riding a bicycle on the sidewalk. But we don't require bicycle registration for some reason.

      • A football weights more and goes faster, fortunately they dont have to be registered. I think a better approach would be to regulate where you can fly. I just started on RC flying in Denmark, we have regulations that says you cant fly 5km from an airfield, above 100meter or near streets,near accidents and some other rules that ought to be common sense for most. If it was mandatory to register as RC pilot first, and complete a simple rc-license-test , i think the growing number of accidents could be reduced

      • that actually seems reasonable to me something over half a pound going 30 miles an hour could do some damage.

        Should I also register a softball or baseball, while they are more like 150g, they can be thrown much faster than 30mph.

        (weird that we're mixing two systems of measurement)

    • It's all good. The incentive to develop little bitty drones will compensate.

      • It's all good. The incentive to develop little bitty drones will compensate.

        Indeed. There will soon be plenty of 249 gm drones ... with optional battery packs and cameras sold separately.

    • But it's not free. A multi-million dollar project will have to be initiated, and probably at least 30 permanent employees added to the federal payroll.

    • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

      by kbg ( 241421 )

      Wait! Let me get this straight. If you own a 250 gram toy drone you need to register it because it could be dangerous?
      But if you own an assault rifle with 100 round magazine you don't need to register it. Yes, only in America.

      • Re: (Score:1, Informative)

        by Anonymous Coward

        Not many have assault rifles. You know a semiautomatic rifle is not an assault rifle, right?

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by leonbev ( 111395 )

          You would be amazed how many people do NOT know this. I guess that's what happens when the only things you know about firearms are the sound bites you hear on CNN every time there is a mass shooting somewhere.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by TWX ( 665546 )

        Wait! Let me get this straight. If you own a 250 gram toy drone you need to register it because it could be dangerous?

        But if you own an assault rifle with 100 round magazine you don't need to register it. Yes, only in America.

        False equivalency. Besides, many argue for even stronger regulations on firearms, they simply are not able to bring those arguments to fruition.

        RC aircraft are being regulated because of the abuses that have been carried out through the operation of RC aircraft. The desire to regulate firearms comes from the abuses that have been carried out through the operation of firearms. They do not compare, they are each their own specific situation, with only one well known example of overlap.

        • Re: (Score:1)

          by kbg ( 241421 )

          False equivalency.

          You can't just spout false equivalency without backing up why that is false equivalency, which you didn't.

          Besides, many argue for even stronger regulations on firearms, they simply are not able to bring those arguments to fruition.

          People argue for many things, but if they are not in effect they are meaningless. In this case this is a real drone regulation that is coming into effect. I can assure you that in the next 50 years there will still be no gun regulation in America and Americe will still have a lot of school shootings.

          >RC aircraft are being regulated because of the abuses that have been carried out through the operation of RC aircraft. The desire to regulate firearms comes from the abuses that have been carried out through the operation of firearms. They do not compare

          No you just compared them exactly right in this sentence.

          they are each their own specific situation, with only one well known example of overlap.

          They are different yes, just like all things, bu

      • Re:The US will start smaller (Score:5, Informative)

        by lister king of smeg ( 2481612 ) on Tuesday November 10, 2015 @11:31AM (#50901527)

        Wait! Let me get this straight. If you own a 250 gram toy drone you need to register it because it could be dangerous?
        But if you own an assault rifle with 100 round magazine you don't need to register it. Yes, only in America.

        No all legal assault rifles owned by civilians are registered in the US and require a in depth background check by the FBI and a tax stamp, gun dealer licence, and large transfer fees. Assault rifles are full automatic (pull trigger bullets fly until you let go), what are unregistered is semi-automatic (one pull one bullet) and manual (pump action, lever action, etc), semi-automatic and manual require a background check and often a waiting period, unless you have a concealed carry permit in that state or dealer licence (in which cases you have already passed the background checks). The only firearms that do not require a background check at some stage are black powder firearms in most states.

        Additionally we have a constitutional provision protecting right to own firearms. But we have no such constitutional protection for ownership of RC toys.

      • Most people are not live firing their assualt rifles up and down the street in the their urban neighborhoods every weekend. No AR owners are looking at my daughter sunbathing in our atrium through their gunsights. No one sees weekly reports of AR being dropped from a height on passersby. There are traceable gun records for original shop sales, too.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by Morgon ( 27979 )

          Please provide evidence that everyday people using quadcopters are using them to "look at your daughter".
          If we base everything on "what ifs", we'd have absolutely nothing.

      • You need a gun to shoot down unregistered drones.

      • Wait! Let me get this straight. If you own a 250 gram toy drone you need to register it because it could be dangerous? But if you own an assault rifle with 100 round magazine you don't need to register it. Yes, only in America.

        I'm pretty sure that the armed forces DOES register all of their assault rifles.

  • US regulation? (Score:3)

    by xxxJonBoyxxx ( 565205 ) on Tuesday November 10, 2015 @09:40AM (#50900517)

    >> Irish Aviation Authority announced that it will have its drone registry up and running by December 21st

    In the US, this would take seven years and $15B to build. And then it still wouldn't work.

    “The only thing that saves us from the bureaucracy is its inefficiency.”

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by Nidi62 ( 1525137 )

      >> Irish Aviation Authority announced that it will have its drone registry up and running by December 21st

      In the US, this would take seven years and $15B to build. And then it still wouldn't work.

      Nope, but it will still have worked as intended. It will have funneled millions of dollars to contractors, guaranteed a bureaucrat or 2 a lucrative job after government life, and added a few more dollars to the reelection coffers of a few Congressmen.

      • I am so looking forward to this. Finally, a project worthy of my Microsoft Access skills!

        I'm going to hunt up the RFP now.

        Or should I write it in Lotus Notes?

  • Why? (Score:2)

    by EzInKy ( 115248 )

    How does it benefit you not to have regulations that prevent devices from buzzing about over your head? In my mind there should be no weight minimums. I simply do not want these things flying around without well enforced rules.

    • How does it benefit you not to have regulations that prevent devices from buzzing about over your head? In my mind there should be no weight minimums. I simply do not want these things flying around without well enforced rules.

      Safety culture is strong in you.

    • How does it benefit you not to have regulations that prevent devices from buzzing about over your head? In my mind there should be no weight minimums. I simply do not want these things flying around without well enforced rules.

      So.. You want to force the registration of paper airplanes in the office now? I understand your idea, but I'm a bit confused as to how you intend to write a law that's reasonable and meets your criteria.

    • Re:Why? (Score:4, Insightful)

      by wonkey_monkey ( 2592601 ) on Tuesday November 10, 2015 @10:21AM (#50900877) Homepage

      How does it benefit you not to have regulations that prevent devices from buzzing about over your head?

      It benefits me because I like flying 'em.

    • If the regulation is unenforceable (i.e. half the kids get a drone for Christmas), then it's a bad thing to have it on the books. The government will then use selective enforcement to punish people they don't like, rather than enforcing in a fair and evenhanded manner. The regulation then becomes a means for the government to control the population, when in fact the population should be controlling the government.
  • Glad to hear they excluded planes below one kg. In some countries, making paper plane is illegal because airplane laws have no exclusions. You shold have license. Dot.
  • Maybe not now but when this law is revised. After that annual airworthiness testing, certification. Drone operators will be required to pay €200 to listen to some guy telling you not to fly a drone into a child walking down the street.

    You'll be able to meet all these requirements by handing over a tidy sum of money to companies set up by friends of the politicians bringing in these drone laws. This is how Ireland works. Behind every law there is a backhander and a gravy train.

  • Where I applaud the Irish for their effort (and whiskey and red hair), I'm not sure how this is really going to work.

    1. Having a registry available by December 21st seems very aggressive.

    2. The privacy concerns of those registering seems to be an unaddressed concern with the whole process.

    3. I'm not aware of any penalties for not registering, or violating any of the IAA rules.

    4. Who knows how much this will cost? Are there registration fees? Is it per aircraft or per operator or what?

    5. Who's got th

    • >> What you really need is ENFORCEMENT

      What the government would prefer is an orderly cash flow from the millions sheeple who register so they can spend it on something else.

      It's not like any local police department will ever get involved in enforcement of unlicensed drones. They already have the tools they need to deal with nuisance situations, of which "being a dangerous ass with a drone" is just a particular type.

      >> It won't force anybody to register

      They won't go after consumers, any more tha

      • Pretty much this. The elephant in the room is DJI - the manufacturer of the Phantom series of drones, arguably the most popular drone around. And one which weights 1.3 kg with battery and rotors. DJI has a lot of money invested. They want to play nice and would fall over themselves to force a registration at time of sale. They would even pay for it themselves.

        Set it up in Ireland, debug the issue and now you can register (most) drones without even thinking about it.

        'Pssst, buddy.... wanna buy an unre

    • For lots of things we don't have a real enforcement in europe.
      You get cought sooner or later, and if the problem is server enough they proclaim, you are violating rules since you started having the device. Then you have to show that you did not.

      E.g. you have to declare that you are brewing beer, 200l per year is tax free.
      You did not declare it and you are brewing provable more than 200l this year. By checking your machine building year they figure you own it minimum 5 years.
      So you get fined for not having d

    • I didn't even RTFA but can probably answer most of those questions with guesses.
      If the Aviation Authority is responsible for the implementation, then copy and paste your questions to any other regulations in place by the same organisation and you will have your answers.
      Implementing new regulations is not new to them. This is their job.

  • When drones are criminalized, only criminals will have drones...

    Therefore, open season [onenewspage.com], bitches!

    *grin*

  • Building a drone, over 1KG, and in the USA, over 250g! is trivial... Requiring registration for people's toys is idiotic (what are they going to do, attach a sticker?! to what easily replaceable part?) and unwarranted (how many actual drones - excluding military - have been involved in actual accidents with aircraft? none).

  • If a 1kg drone falls on my head, it will likely kill me. I am very much interested in knowing who has these, where they are allowed to fly and what is the maintenance record.

    • If a 1kg drone falls on my head, it will likely kill me. I am very much interested in knowing who has these, where they are allowed to fly and what is the maintenance record.

      Dear Paranoid Sir:

      May I interest you in the latest bit of drone protective gear [wikipedia.org]? In the constant see saw between the Evil Forces and your physical integrity, this impressive device will completely shield you from their nefarious antics. The classic styling will fit in with any decor or occasion. For added protection, an aluminum foil EMF shield can be added to keep those unwanted thoughts to a bare minimum (if you get my drift...).

  • There is not a single serious accident involving a drone. The one which you can see on youtube is a fake.

    At the same time about a million and a half people die each year in traffic accidents. http://www.who.int/gho/road_sa... [who.int] About 20 million wounded. These are the figures of the World War 3, and they continue to grow. And what we see - cars and motorcycles are getting even more overpowered and overweight. Streets and roads are overcrowded by cars.

    At the same time delivery by drones could free roads a

  • What is the point of the registry?

    Is it better for me if the person using a drone to spy on me mowing my lawn has a registered drone? Is my privacy being invaded more if it's not registered?

    If you're going to say that we would be able to track down the person responsible if a drone is used to take down a plane you're lying. A drone used in such a manner would be homemade, unregistered, stolen or the registration markings would have been removed. The registration database would be completely useless.

    The regi

  • ...people are safe from being murdered by a US drone in Ireland?

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