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I used to think the rule was exactly as you are stating. Even some of my post remarks from long ago reflect this past belief. I have learned from members here and other sources that its not exactly true.
I want to get to where you are, but I am one that needs to hear from the governing body to get there. I've worked with regulators for many years now, mainly on regulations like SOX, HIPAA, and PCI-DSS and have heard many say this and that is OK when they were not in the eyes of the regulators.
 
I'm going to take a break from the internet for a bit, have to assemble some more IKEA "furniture", why did I give my wife my credit card..........
 
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I Agree You should hear it from the horses mouth! Dont think the advice you get on a drone forum is correct thats for sure lol BUT I can give you many examples to show its perfectly fine to post videos on monitezed sites or even use pics or videos commercially. Its the intent of the flight beforehand not afterwards.
 
Extrapolate as you will.

A while back I was building a house for myself. I did the plumbing and electrical (as well as built most of it but that's not part of this)
Of course, I needed inspections from the city.
I had a plumbing inspector come out and he failed me before walking in the building. I specified what the law said and he said it still didn't meet code. I showed him proof and he said "Fine, lets look at the rest".
He failed me and told me why.
I made the corrections and he came out to inspect again. He failed me on the same thing as before and I had done it the way he said. I asked him to clarify the correct way to do this aspect and as he was explaining it, I wrote it on a 2X6 stud right next to the "problem" area.
I redid it according to the diagram he approved.
He came out the third time and failed me again, on the same spot. I reminded him I wrote the diagram and he approved it. He, then, said "We can get another city inspector (his boss) out here if you think I'm wrong". I said I wanted that. He immediately said "Well, let's look at the rest of it".
We went through the rest and, interestingly enough, he said he was going to pass me.

(FWIW, the electrical inspector came in and passed me first time)

Moral of the story is you need to take an "opinion" of the rules/regulations with a grain of salt. Two officials might have different interpretations.
That's why I said the only actual person who could tell us what the law actually is, is a judge. And since it's a federal regulation, it would have to be a federal judge to make the final call.
And, if one were to really get fussy, it could be taken Supreme where one could remind people that the Constitution says NOWHERE that the sky can be regulated for use.
 
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Extrapolate as you will.

A while back I was building a house for myself. I did the plumbing and electrical (as well as built most of it but that's not part of this)
Of course, I needed inspections from the city.
I had a plumbing inspector come out and he failed me before walking in the building. I specified what the law said and he said it still didn't meet code. I showed him proof and he said "Fine, lets look at the rest".
He failed me and told me why.
I made the corrections and he came out to inspect again. He failed me on the same thing as before and I had done it the way he said. I asked him to clarify the correct way to do this aspect and as he was explaining it, I wrote it on a 2X6 stud right next to the "problem" area.
I redid it according to the diagram he approved.
He came out the third time and failed me again, on the same spot. I reminded him I wrote the diagram and he approved it. He, then, said "We can get another city inspector (his boss) out here if you think I'm wrong". I said I wanted that. He immediately said "Well, let's look at the rest of it".
We went through the rest and, interestingly enough, he said he was going to pass me.

(FWIW, the electrical inspector came in and passed me first time)

Moral of the story is you need to take an "opinion" of the rules/regulations with a grain of salt. Two officials might have different interpretations.
That's why I said the only actual person who could tell us what the law actually is, is a judge. And since it's a federal regulation, it would have to be a federal judge to make the final call.
And, if one were to really get fussy, it could be taken Supreme where one could remind people that the Constitution says NOWHERE that the sky can be regulated for use.
I have done most of my years in IT in the construction industry, and inspectors all seem to follow the same basic pattern. It's like being a harda** is part of the job or something. I've never heard any of the project managers say anything nice about any of them. I've never had to deal with one personally but I would definitely take their word with a grain of salt, however, the ones I would listen to is the code enforcement/review people down at city hall as they are the ones that have the final say in any of that.
 
I do want to say I ran across a video of the guy from pilot institute saying something similar to what many of you are saying but then found another video of the same guy saying what I've been saying, so he has said it both ways. I am starting to come to the conclusion that it is probably the way I expect it to be, but it is one of those rules they may take great liberty in whether they enforce it or not. It may be one of those things that if you pi** them off enough to come after you, they would use that to simply increase the enforcement action. I would liken it to the speeding ticket analogy about many cops not writing tickets for less than 10 over.
 
I do want to say I ran across a video of the guy from pilot institute saying something similar to what many of you are saying but then found another video of the same guy saying what I've been saying, so he has said it both ways. I am starting to come to the conclusion that it is probably the way I expect it to be, but it is one of those rules they may take great liberty in whether they enforce it or not. It may be one of those things that if you pi** them off enough to come after you, they would use that to simply increase the enforcement action. I would liken it to the speeding ticket analogy about many cops not writing tickets for less than 10 over.
Also wanted to add in this thread if I haven't already said it (been said in other threads), none of us will ever get to challenge this in court or before a judge. When the FAA decides to enforce it, they'll do what they normally do which is stack up a bunch of violations against you for which you will be more than happy to take a plea deal, admit no real wrongdoing, agree to do better, pay a small fine, etc....rather than fighting six-figure fines and double-digit jail time in a federal courtroom. That's how they avoid clarifying the law and that's how the system avoids adjudicating. Unfortunately we'll just have a wait a few more years and hope our advocates and the drone community work on it on our behalf.

I've mentioned this before and it's just my opinion but I believe we should take a page from another country (how they do it) or else have a three-tier license system along the lines of beginner, advanced, and commercial. This removes the exception (sorry Congress) and everyone can play in their lane accordingly. Oh, and registration has to go. Registration = Confiscation.
 
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they'll do what they normally do which is stack up a bunch of violations against you for which you will be more than happy to take a plea deal, admit no real wrongdoing, agree to do better, pay a small fine, etc....rather than fighting six-figure fines and double-digit jail time in a federal courtroom.
Based on a sample size of one guy from Philadelphia who racked up a huge list of infractions, ignoring every warning he was sent.
Oh, and registration has to go. Registration = Confiscation.
Yes .. since drone registration became a thing, so many drones have been confiscated that there's no way to accurately ***** the number.
Just like it was with cars.
 
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