This industry needs to look at what the electronic cigarette industry has went through and try to find some takeaways that will help us avoid that kind of end-result.. Misinformation and outright lies have all but turned the general public against the electronic cigarette.
While a bit OT, that's a very good point
@jimmybbq. And the important take away from what's happening to the e-cig industry is that the resistance to what is arguably a safer, less addictive alternative to cigarettes, is that the opposition is neither spontaneous or organic. It's coordinated, well-funded, and agenda-driven. The weapons aimed at the fledgling e-cig industry include well-paid lobbyists, powerful PR firms, and thousands of funded social media contributors that help foment opposition.
Astroturfing, as it's called, is a powerful, yet nearly imperceptible form of public opinion manipulation that is very effective. And when an industry is threatened by a new startup alternative, the waters get muddy pretty quickly.
Where it relates to droning might not be so obvious. When a .gov employee crashes his drone into the whitehouse at 3AM, it makes headlines. Was that .gov employee really just a nobody who was stupid and drunk? Or was he a willing participant in a PR campaign designed to strike fear and alarm in the minds of voters. When we learn that
a Phantom pilot who recklessly charged his drone towards an NYPD helicopter was
actually trying to get away from it, and it was the helicopter pilot who was chasing the drone,
we rarely hear that the charges were dropped, and evidence vindicating the drone operators is never published.
My point is, I simply do not believe any claim of drone sightings, or reckless drone operators, at face value. There are too many interests in seeing this hobby snuffed out or controlled to the point where it's no longer practical. That doesn't mean I don't believe there aren't stupid operators who do dumb things - but we must reserve judgment, and always keep an open mind (with a healthy dose of skepticism) - and understand that .gov motives are neither pure, altruistic, or nobel.