'Wild West' in skies: FAA says commercial drone use is illegal, but can't effectively enforce law

Commercial drone use is illegal in the U.S., but it's nearly impossible for the Federal Aviation Administration to enforce the law, Kevin Robillard reports for Politico: "Thanks to falling prices, spotty enforcement and the fact that it’s almost impossible to spot the devices being used, the FAA is often powerless to halt the growing drone swarm. Retailers freely sell the tiny planes, quadcopters and hexacopters for as little as a few hundred dollars, and entrepreneurs continually come up with creative uses like wedding photography and crop monitoring—along with delivering beer and dropping off dry cleaning." (Associated Press photo)

Many businesses, including some in agriculture, have expressed an interest in using drones, but with a free-for-all going on, and no one enforcing it, "The result, observers and drone users warn, could be a Wild, Wild West in the nation’s skies," Robillard writes. "As small drone operators grow used to flying them without the FAA’s permission, they could become less inclined to obey any rules the agency puts in place. And with the cost of the technology continuing to drop, the drones could eventually become far too ubiquitous for the agency to police."

The FAA maintains that commercial drone use is illegal and says it has sent out 12 warning letters to companies using drones, fining one $10,000. But that case is under appeal, and based on the growing use of drones, it doesn't appear people are afraid of using them publicly, Robillard writes. Timothy Reuter, the founder of the Drone User Group Network in Washington, told Robillard, “A lot of our members would like to start businesses using this technology. Some of them are waiting for the regulations to open up. Others, honestly, aren’t.”

While the FAA continues to test drones, "The agency probably will eventually issue two rules: one for drones less than 55 pounds, which are likely to fly under 400 feet, and one for heavier drones, which are likely to share airspace with manned aircraft," Robillard writes. For now, the illegal use of the drones keeps showing up at baseball games, on movie sets and among business small and large. (Read more)