commercial drone pilot has a (federal) part 107 license and drone insurance, is that not enough?
No, that was not enough in the eyes of the state of NC.
I'm not the right person to argue the merits of this case but yeah, I get it. If I spend a ton of money and time learning how to do something, I definitely wouldn't want someone to go to Best Buy and purchase a drone and then just fly the drone (using a part 107) to let the drone do all the work. I would do my best to stop him and at least try to make him do more than just "fly the drone." Helps when the government has your back.
Yes, exactly.
Great questions. The disclaimer is good but it may still confuse the average consumer who just sees the bright lines superimposed on a cool aerial image and assume that is where the boundary lines are. If that is permitted, then anyone could provide a similar service using Parlay images superimposed on a google earth image. The Parlay disclaimer is very similar to the one at issue here in the survey case. If interested, check out link below.
There is a difference in scope between PARLAY's disclaimer and what the operator's disclaimer presumably covered.
enough for what? If I have a driver's license that doesn't mean I can drive an 18-wheeler legally, on the roads, with all the other traffic. I need a CDL as well
49 states agreed with me, 1 state agrees with you but yeah, that's hardly a world view.
I don't know how valid or current this information is, but GA and CA both consider surveying by drone to be civil engineering and it requires a civil engineer or surveyor's license for commercial use. If you dig into the state laws, state by state, I think you will find that you are not going to find 49 states that allow unlicensed surveying to be sold as a service.
What about being a teacher, does it require a state license to be a teacher and therefore anyone that tries to "teach" can be told to stop it unless you get a license from the state first?
Maybe but its a slippery slope because you may not give legal advice or misrepresent your very narrow scope of experience or services.
You would have to explain this one further. The government tells people all the time what they cannot do without a license. Everything from hunting and fishing to exotic dancing and tattooing.
The YT video shows how a drone can create an aerial map. It does not explain how to create an aerial map which accurately depicts property boundaries which I am thinking is a bright line not to cross.
I agree so he can provide his drone services as long as he doesn't misrepresent his experiences or services?
Only in a commercial capacity or where they have a valid interest. The government does it all the time and it's more like a permit where you have to go to the government, pay a fee, and they had you a piece of paper to do something. You get to do it within the rules, for a certain period, etc. Is that what happens in NC, you pay the survey's fee, get your permit, and then start selling your goods? Or is there a long list of requirements and hurdles and training and schooling and a bunch of obstacles designed to proficiency qualify you to do something? When you open a tattoo shop, do you have to make a few tattoo to prove you're good at it or let the government see what you plan to offer so they approve it? I think it's ok to make sure the place is clean and safe and check zoning, etc....those are in the government and public interest. But that isn't what is going on in the drone world. They told him to stop telling the business in NC that he can give them maps using a drone. In order to tell businesses you can give them maps using a drone, you have to get permission from the government. Do I have to get an exotic dancing license to advertise in the yellow pages? Are you suggesting that a person cannot do what you see in the YT video (fly, download, create) and crank out a map unless they have permission from the government? If the government has a case that the product being produced is problematic, they should take the steps to remedy that but not tell you to quit doing what you are doing. Maybe telling the business what they can and cannot use would be better than telling the citizens what they can and cannot do.
If one day, the maps are just as good as anyone else's map, do you think NC will be ok with it? I think we know the answer to that.
If that's the case, we have nothing to worry about. If the court rules they don't have a 1st amendment right, perhaps there are other rights they do have that would permit this. I am not as familiar with all the details of the case because it's been many years and the details are scarce. But something tells me the case is more involved than what we read in the papers. I think we know what this is all about, we just won't say it aloud. Same thing happened when GPS came out or when computers and calculators first came out. Technology has a way of....but it cannot be stopped.
That he was using a drone was never the point of all of this.
What does that even mean and how is it relevant here?
No one here has suggested that.
That is what the government did (state of NC) by preventing the drone operator from providing surveying services without a license.
That was the mistake the operator made, this was never a First Amendment issue. He should (my opinion, IANAL) have made the argument the disclaimer was enough to distinguish what he offered from what would be a licensed service.
If you sell an online video that teaches algebra, that will not grant high school or college credit for taking that class. If you advertised that taking your course would satisfy the GED requirement for High School algebra in some state, then you could expect to have someone from that state come after you.
That is the point of all this. The state of NC requires that to offer surveying services, you must be licensed. I posted earlier that it was the responsibility of the customer to verify that the surveyor was both licensed and insured.
It's called the rule of "this is why we can't have nice things". It has nothing to do with Communism.
