Drones "Spying" on New Jersey.

[MS Coast]

hank, with all due respect, I can assure you that flying a drone over a person's private property in NC without permission can trigger criminal and civil liability. I

Presumably then, you can cite cases were people flying drones over other people's property without permission in North Carolina have been prosecuted? Three should be enough to be persuasive.

 

[Chip]

Presumably then, you can cite cases were people flying drones over other people's property without permission in North Carolina have been prosecuted? Three should be enough to be persuasive.

Its a new law. I am not so sure anyone has been sued over it yet. Even if there were cases they would be very hard to find unless they were appealed. The NC law is similar to laws in several other states. Fatback said he wished he could bring "heat" down on the persons responsible. I said he could bring "heat" down using the NC state law which was accurate.

 

[mavic3usa]

Its a new law. I am not so sure anyone has been sued over it yet. Even if there were cases they would be very hard to find unless they were appealed. The NC law is similar to laws in several other states. Fatback said he wished he could bring "heat" down on the persons responsible. I said he could bring "heat" down using the NC state law which was accurate.

No one would go thru a trial on a charge accusing you of violating that drone statute and no prosecutor would take you to court on it and risk the scrutiny. Instead the statute is use to get you to plea to a different charge like disorderly conduct or trespassing and just pay a fine and time served and don't do it again and you may or may not forfeit your contraband, depends on your attitude and cooperation when you are arrested and booked.

 

[Chip]

No one would go thru a trial on a charge accusing you of violating that drone statute and no prosecutor would take you to court on it and risk the scrutiny. Instead the statute is use to get you to plea to a different charge like disorderly conduct or trespassing and just pay a fine and time served and don't do it again and you may or may not forfeit your contraband, depends on your attitude and cooperation when you are arrested and booked.

There has been lots of miscommunication or misunderstanding on some key points. The NC statute that has been cited is a civil not a criminal statute. It is intended to give people the right to sue drone operators who fly over their property conducting surveillance without consent. It exists alongside criminal statutes which prohibit things like stalking, harassment, trespass, nuisance, voyeurism, etc. There are many other states that have the same or similar laws which we have discussed on this forum for 3+ years. These statutes generally allow recovery of "actual" damages or liquidated damages per image, but sometimes only if published. Some allow for punitive damages. Most allow for recovery of all legal fees and expenses. Many including NC's allow the plaintiff to seek an injunction barring further overflights. I am not suggesting resort to such laws are for everybody or for anybody in particular. What I am saying is that if someone is flying drones on a regular basis at night over private property and creating noise and disturbance in NC, there is a way to try and find out who is doing it and why, and possibly stop it. The assumption I am making is that there is credible evidence of the overflights and where the drones originate.

 

[mavic3usa]

There has been lots of miscommunication or misunderstanding on some key points. The NC statute that has been cited is a civil not a criminal statute. It is intended to give people the right to sue drone operators who fly over their property conducting surveillance without consent. It exists alongside criminal statutes which prohibit things like stalking, harassment, trespass, nuisance, voyeurism, etc. There are many other states that have the same or similar laws which we have discussed on this forum for 3+ years. These statutes generally allow recovery of "actual" damages or liquidated damages per image, but sometimes only if published. Some allow for punitive damages. Most allow for recovery of all legal fees and expenses. Many including NC's allow the plaintiff to seek an injunction barring further overflights. I am not suggesting resort to such laws are for everybody or for anybody in particular. What I am saying is that if someone is flying drones on a regular basis at night over private property and creating noise and disturbance in NC, there is a way to try and find out who is doing it and why, and possibly stop it. The assumption I am making is that there is credible evidence of the overflights and where the drones originate.

If that's the case, it's even worse than I thought.