This guy will wreck our freedoms with drones in Uk

[Pacefast]

https://youtube.com/@DJEmedia88?si=TmsSFRVHjd5q8gO-

This guy has a lot of followers ! He basically uses a sub 250 g drone and goes around large businesses or police training establishments spouting the law at them !
He remains off their property while using the drone to fly over and film their property!
To get his massive followers he uses a confrontational approach so a verbal punchup occurs !
My fear is that he is using the law to get his way over their privacy wishes and both big business and local authorities wield a lot of power with the UK CAA
All he will achieve other than making money on u tube is that the sub 250 g laws will be chsnged
What do you think ?

 

[Phantomrain.org]

this is a disaster, how hard was it to just hit the RTH and this would have been a lot smoother,
I agree this behavior is rough on the drone community.

The patience that the cop had was commendable.

Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly in the Rain.

 

[BobaFut]

https://youtube.com/@DJEmedia88?si=TmsSFRVHjd5q8gO-

This guy has a lot of followers ! He basically uses a sub 250 g drone and goes around large businesses or police training establishments spouting the law at them !
He remains off their property while using the drone to fly over and film their property!
To get his massive followers he uses a confrontational approach so a verbal punchup occurs !
My fear is that he is using the law to get his way over their privacy wishes and both big business and local authorities wield a lot of power with the UK CAA
All he will achieve other than making money on u tube is that the sub 250 g laws will be chsnged
What do you think ?

Honestly have no desire to watch these, as I hate this type of content, but I'm of the mind that large businesses and police should not be entitled to the same "privacy" rights as individuals are. It's also not clear to me that any of this stuff would cross the threshold of violating personal privacy. At least here in the States, I think a major issue is that police hide behind these types of privacy claims (oftentimes couched as "interference") to avoid transparency and scrutiny of their tactics, and corporations do the same (but in different ways).

I don't care for the trolling/intentionally confrontational aspect of this person's schtick, and don't disagree that this type of behavior risks a broader backlash, but highly visible institutions, particularly taxpayer-funded institutions, don't do themselves any favors by overreacting to this type of stuff. And what good are rights/privileges if we don't assert them? Should I just not fly my drone because someone might not like it and confront me, even if I'm completely within my rights? I think drone operators should strive to not be a nuisance, but at some point people need to realize that part of existing in public spaces is having to deal with what other people are also rightfully doing in that space. I live in the DC area and we have incredibly obnoxious tourists everywhere. But it's public space and they have a right to be obnoxious, so I just deal with it.

 

[mavic3usa]

No comment.

 

[horsepowerphoto]

I love the video where he was spanked by the officer for not having VLOS... He goes around spouting laws to everyone, even though he wasn't following the VLOS rule..

 

[Torque]

If these auditors actually cared about our rights as drone pilots, they would also care about and be aware of their public persona, attitude, approach and de-escalation techniques. They don't. They don't care about drone rights or the future of the hobby/profession. They care about click bait and making money from their confrontational content, nothing more.
They are doing more harm to us than they are good. Education is rarely achieved with in your face confrontational behavior.

 

[old man mavic]

i have aired my views on this topic before ,and have nothing further to say on the matter

 

[Droning on and on...]

@BigAl07, @Vic Moss, while this occurred in the UK, it got me thinking about the harassment with a drone angle, and a belief that such a "mission" is actually illegal under some FAR I couldn't find with a cursory search.

Is that the case? While it would be hard to prove, isn't against FAA rules to loiter around some locale where people are, clearly annoyed with your pestering, and obviously that's what you're doing?

IOW, is it against regs on a national level to "harass" someone with a drone?

A patchwork of all sorts of state and local laws about this sort of thing exist in the US, was wondering if it's addressed by the FAA.

 

[Droning on and on...]

Honestly have no desire to watch these, as I hate this type of content, but I'm of the mind that large businesses and police should not be entitled to the same "privacy" rights as individuals are.

Fair enough.

Do you think they're entitled to the same social courtesy and respect as everyone else, or are they legitimate fodder for harassment, annoyance, interference, etc., simply for the purpose of harassing, annoying them, so long as it's not illegal?

Often what's lawful isn't the issue. Indeed, appropriate behavior should be governed not by the law, but by social custom and rules. This is why more of us aren't missing teeth.

The law is there to deal with crossing egregious lines. It's not a handbook for how to behave in society. Just because you won't get punished for something doesn't mean you should do it, or that it's okay.

 

[Droning on and on...]

Should I just not fly my drone because someone might not like it and confront me, even if I'm completely within my rights?

I can't say with so little information. What was the mission? What was the other party's concern? How inconvenient would it be to accommodate this person?

What I can say is approaching this type of situation with the purpose of your flying transforming into asserting your rights will end up in conflict, with them asserting their rights – as each of you perceive it – possibly the involvement of local law enforcement. Meanwhile, no fun is being had flying.

I can't speak for you, but that's not how I like to spend my recreational time. So unless there's some reason I need to fly where someone else doesn't like it, I'll fly somewhere else. Note that doesn't necessarily mean I need to move.

 

[Pacefast]

Honestly have no desire to watch these, as I hate this type of content, but I'm of the mind that large businesses and police should not be entitled to the same "privacy" rights as individuals are. It's also not clear to me that any of this stuff would cross the threshold of violating personal privacy. At least here in the States, I think a major issue is that police hide behind these types of privacy claims (oftentimes couched as "interference") to avoid transparency and scrutiny of their tactics, and corporations do the same (but in different ways).

I don't care for the trolling/intentionally confrontational aspect of this person's schtick, and don't disagree that this type of behavior risks a broader backlash, but highly visible institutions, particularly taxpayer-funded institutions, don't do themselves any favors by overreacting to this type of stuff. And what good are rights/privileges if we don't assert them? Should I just not fly my drone because someone might not like it and confront me, even if I'm completely within my rights? I think drone operators should strive to not be a nuisance, but at some point people need to realize that part of existing in public spaces is having to deal with what other people are also rightfully doing in that space. I live in the DC area and we have incredibly obnoxious tourists everywhere. But it's public space and they have a right to be obnoxious, so I just deal with it.

My problem with him is not his freedoms but the fact that he gets his big following by people wanting to see verbal punchups with big business or authorities .
Sadly in the UK I am sure there will be many letters of complaint and telephone calls to the UK CAA who regulate Drones.
The result will be that the CAA will regulate against Drones especially the freedoms sub 250 g drones have compared to even my Air 3 !
He is not offering a public service to show the little man against the power of authorities or big business but purely getting followers to make money for himself !
It will be US who suffer

 

[Vic Moss]

@BigAl07, @Vic Moss, while this occurred in the UK, it got me thinking about the harassment with a drone angle, and a belief that such a "mission" is actually illegal under some FAR I couldn't find with a cursory search.

Is that the case? While it would be hard to prove, isn't against FAA rules to loiter around some locale where people are, clearly annoyed with your pestering, and obviously that's what you're doing?

IOW, is it against regs on a national level to "harass" someone with a drone?

A patchwork of all sorts of state and local laws about this sort of thing exist in the US, was wondering if it's addressed by the FAA.

There is nothing in the FARs that make it illegal to use a drone to harass someone. That isn't the FAA's purview. It's dumb to do it, and I have no doubt local harassment laws could be used, but it's not an FAA issue.

If the person was flying over people, or BVLOS, or violating some other FAA regulation while they were harassing someone, they could be investigated by the FAA. But not for simply harassment.

 

[Pacefast]

There is nothing in the FARs that make it illegal to use a drone to harass someone. That isn't the FAA's purview. It's dumb to do it, and I have no doubt local harassment laws could be used, but it's not an FAA issue.

If the person was flying over people, or BVLOS, or violating some other FAA regulation while they were harassing someone, they could be investigated by the FAA. But not for simply harassment.

Its in UK so CAA but your missing my point .
He always makes a point of going to security to " politely " inform them
of what he is doing ? Why ? Because he knows he will 80% of the by time get an adverse reaction and thats what he wants because thats what gets him his followers !
His attitude to the police is dictatorial and dominating ! That changed dramatically when he met up with a Police drone operator who saw him staring at the screen and not the drone ! When challenged to point to the drone he couldnt and vaguely indicsted a direction .Another episode he filmed in the square mile at Canary Whatf in London ! Commercial film makers require a filming licence ! Hr claimed he was a private individual and not a business while making a living on his site
He is challenging big business and the police who will have a lot more clout with the CAA and will complain about sub 250 g drone freedoms to spy on them !
His actions will without doubt get the CAA to legislate so that his behaviour is illegal and that effects us

 

[Vic Moss]

Its in UK so CAA but your missing my point .
He always makes a point of going to security to " politely " inform them
of what he is doing ? Why ? Because he knows he will 80% of the by time get an adverse reaction and thats what he wants because thats what gets him his followers !
His attitude to the police is dictatorial and dominating ! That changed dramatically when he met up with a Police drone operator who saw him staring at the screen and not the drone ! When challenged to point to the drone he couldnt and vaguely indicsted a direction .Another episode he filmed in the square mile at Canary Whatf in London ! Commercial film makers require a filming licence ! Hr claimed he was a private individual and not a business while making a living on his site
He is challenging big business and the police who will have a lot more clout with the CAA and will complain about sub 250 g drone freedoms to spy on them !
His actions will without doubt get the CAA to legislate so that his behaviour is illegal and that effects us

I was replying to @Droning on and on... ,but I understand the confusion.

I'm not in the camp of "bad behavior will dictate more rules" but that's on this side of the pond. I'm intimately familiar with the process here, but not in the UK. So that may indeed cause issues there.

While I'm not a fan of people pushing an agenda with their drones, I have pushed the boundaries a bit here. Always legally and diplomatically, but I will take any opportunity to educate those in charge who don't understand the rules here. And on occasion make it a point to do so deliberately. But again, always professional and diplomatically.

And when it comes to cops and other First Responders, there is a time and a place for pushing the point. And if you find yourself in the correct time and place, you better make sure you're right. And it sounds like he isn't always on the right side of that fence.

 

[Yaros]

What do you think ?

Honestly, he's a cool guy. Never seen his channel, but I'm interested to see what he does next.
I'm not negative about him like most of you guys are. He's just enjoying flying in his way, and he's not endangering anyone, so I don't see anything immediately wrong about it.

 

[thispilothere]

If you can't exercise your rights, then you don't have them at all. I like several of this guy's videos, but, at least in one video, he didn't appear to be flying in VLOS.

I've had the police called many times because some business or individual just didn't want me flying. I tell them, the police and whomever to pound sand. Police occasionally need to be reminded that they are servants. Businesses and Karens occasionally need to be reminded that they can't make their own laws.

I try to be polite but I match the energy I get. If someone asks very politely, I usually decide to land and move on. If they aren't polite, well, there's an answer for that too.

 

[Chip]

I'm not negative about him like most of you guys are. He's just enjoying flying in his way, and he's not endangering anyone, so I don't see anything immediately wrong about it.

I do not get the heat and hate this guy generates either. The one video where the guy is accused of flying BVLOS is very informative and even has a happy ending. The video revealed that there was a special dedicated drone team that patrolled the area and was specifically looking for the guy. The officer who responded was very well trained and pressed the accusation the guy was flying BVLOS. Now, the guy was pushing the limits of rudeness at first BUT note what eventually happened--a common understanding was reached. The officer graciously concluded that only a warning was necessary and the guy humbly admitted that the officer had reasonable suspicion to believe he was fling BVLOS so he had no complaint about the interaction (he says this after the officer has left at end of video). There was even some comedic relief. Officer finished inspecting the guy's drone and then asked would you like to see mine? When he pulled his drone out of the patrol car it was obviously much larger and more impressive. When the officer explained his work and the air corridors in the area, it was obvious he knew exactly what he was talking about.

 

[notadrop]

https://youtube.com/@DJEmedia88?si=TmsSFRVHjd5q8gO-

This guy has a lot of followers ! He basically uses a sub 250 g drone and goes around large businesses or police training establishments spouting the law at them !
He remains off their property while using the drone to fly over and film their property!
To get his massive followers he uses a confrontational approach so a verbal punchup occurs !
My fear is that he is using the law to get his way over their privacy wishes and both big business and local authorities wield a lot of power with the UK CAA
All he will achieve other than making money on u tube is that the sub 250 g laws will be chsnged
What do you think ?

I agree. He's a pompous *** who loves to tell anyone who will listen what an incredibly boring person he is by 'droning' on (sorry about that!) about his knowledge and what he is allowed to do. Basically I imagine it is the only subject he does have some knowledge of....so everyone needs to see/ hear him spout. In case you hadn't guessed.....he's a boring p*ick!!

 

[Talldiver]

There is always one or two individuals who have to push so far that they destroy it for the vast majority of us. The best thing is to not watch the videos. Eventually Youtube algorithms will put him on the bottom of the pile.

 

[Droning on and on...]

If you can't exercise your rights, then you don't have them at all.

True.

And if you insist on exercising the rights you have for the purpose of proving you have them because it's irritating someone else and you have a right to irritate them, you are a horse's arse and should be punished severely socially to the maximum extent of everyone else's right to socially punish you.

Rights go both ways. None of what any one is discussing here has anything to do with legal rights. It has to do with acceptable behavior.