Drones

WASHINGTON (AP) — The government says requirements to register drones will be simple enough that owners don’t need to pay a “drone registration” firm to do it for them. Some […]

The use of drones presents great opportunity, and potential risk, for newscasters. Federal, state and local governments are struggling with the potential safety and privacy implications that follow from putting thousands of drones in the sky for a variety of uses. They are creating a patchwork of laws, rules, and policies that have the potential to trigger liability for broadcasters.Here is a high-level discussion of some key legal considerations for operating drones for newsgathering.

Media General’s CW affiliate today introduced the only live newsgathering drone in the state. It’s flown by Chopper 8 Chief Pilot Keith McCutchen.

A government task force created to recommend registration guidelines for recreational drones plans to call for owners of drones weighing more than half a pound to register online, according to multiple members of the task force speaking on the condition of anonymity. This process would take place through apps or websites, including those of manufacturers, so retailers would not be burdened with having to complete a registration process at the point of sale.

Vitec, a worldwide provider of advanced video encoding and streaming solutions, today unveiled MGW Pico Tough, its latest innovation in airborne encoding and streaming appliances. The dual-channel H.264 HD/SD encoding […]

The Department of Transportation is moving to require recreational drone users to register with the federal government. The agency said Monday that it is developing a task force to craft a registration system for drones after an increase in the number of pilots who have reported sightings of the devices during flights. The Federal Aviation Administration has been in the process of developing rules for commercial drones, but the new rules would also apply to recreational devices.

A year after the Federal Aviation Administration cleared the way for their use by the film and television industry, unmanned aircraft systems are becoming popular tools for directors and cinematographers. “We’re getting shots you wouldn’t get any other way,” said Tony Carmean, a co-founder of Aerial MOB, the San Diego company that supplied the drone for a Criminal Minds shoot.

SkyPan International, a Chicago aerial photography firm, was hit Tuesday by the Federal Aviation Administration with a record proposed fine of $1.9 million for flying drones in busy downtown Chicago and New York without permission.

The FAA has missed a deadline set in 2012 by Congress to integrate drones in the national airspace. In its place, it is issuing a draft proposal for new rules and to issue commercial exemptions on a case-by-case basis — not good news for newsrooms looking to get the legal OK to use drones for regular newsgathering in the near term.

Cox-owned ABC affiliate WFTV became the first Orlando, Fla., station to use drones in news coverage last Friday. The Federal Aviation Administration last week approved a petition by WFTV and other stations in the Cox Media Group to fly the drones.

ABC O&O KGO San Francisco is one of the first local news operations in the United States to put footage from a remote-controlled aerial drone live onto the air. Find out how they did it from Ken Miguel, special projects producer at KGO, and Ron Futrell, sales and marketing director at ArrowData, which supplied the technology.

TVU Networks | Stand 2.B28 | Website: www.tvunetworks.com TVU Networks, a global provider of live IP video transmission solutions, and drone manufacturer DJI will demonstrate the world’s first Aerial Newsgathering […]

California Gov. Jerry Brown vetoed a state bill aimed at increasing citizens’ privacy protections against drone flights. The bill would have allowed property owners to file trespassing charges against drone operators who flew their unmanned aircraft less than 350 feet above their property. In a veto statement, Brown said the bill “could expose the occasional hobbyist and the FAA-approved commercial users alike to burdensome litigation and new causes of action.”

If you want to use your drone for your business, you’ll need to know what to ask for and how to ask for it. The FAA expects you to jump through a number of hoops. What are those hoops and how do you jump through them? Read on.

RTDNA, the National Press Photographers Association and a coalition of other journalism groups have sent a letter to California Governor Jerry Brown, urging him to veto a bill that would make it nearly impossible for newsrooms to use drones for newsgathering.

There is plenty of uncertainty over how news organizations can legally use drones and footage shot using drones. Kevin M. Goldberg of Fletcher, Heald & Hildreth has the latest answers.

Most of the fascination with civilian drones has focused on those that engage in free flight, orbiting or hovering over news according to commands given by their  operators. However, many in the news business, most notably CNN and a major satellite news operator, also are interested in another type of drone, one tethered to the ground by a lightweight cable that not only holds it in place but also delivers electricity and collects high-definition video in real time.

A simple explanation for the growing number of encounters is that consumer drones are more common as prices fall. Twenty members of Congress from California asked the Federal Aviation Administration last month to consider a requirement for drone makers to include technology that aims to prevent operators from interfering with first responders.

Facebook will begin test flights of a giant, solar-powered drone to help deliver Internet connectivity to remote parts of the world, Brandon Bailey reports. The drone can fly at high altitudes for up to three months, weighs less than 1,000 pounds and has a 140-foot wingspan.

ArrowData’s news UAV’s now feature TVU Networks’ portable cellular transmitters to deliver full HD with sub-second latency.

Officials say drones operated by hobbyists seeking close-up video are posing a danger to the low-flying aircraft being used in fighting wildfires in California.

While the Federal Aviation Administration is still working on final rules for flying commercial drones in U.S. airspace, at least one local TV newsroom has figured out how to legally use camera-equipped drones for news. Last Thursday, ABC O&O KGO San Francisco went live with a drone owned and operated by Las Vegas-based ArrowData, one of the first operations in the country to receive the requisite exemption from the FAA to use drones for electronic newsgathering or “aerojournalism” as the company calls it.

NTIA steps up effort to develop consensus as to best practices for drone use. The agency has scheduled a series of four meetings “of a multistakeholder process concerning privacy, transparency and accountability issues regarding commercial and private use” of drones.

ABC, NBC, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Associated Press and Reuters are among the 15 outlets that are on board for the research effort, which was announced on Tuesday. The tests will take place in Virginia in a partnership with Virginia Tech.

As the largest American maker of consumer drones, 3D Robotics Inc. sees big opportunities in selling mini-helicopters with cameras, sensors and whirling propellers that buzz like angry hornets.

Commercial drones would get their wings under a new bill introduced Tuesday by Sens. Cory Booker and John Hoeven. The Commercial UAS Modernization Act would set interim guidelines for the testing and use of commercial drones while the Federal Aviation Administration finalizes its rules. In addition, the bill would give the FAA more oversight authority by creating a deputy administrator exclusively responsible for the safe integration of drones in U.S. airspace.

The FAA yesterday released a memo that lays out the FAA’s legal analysis of why citizen journalists using drones to photograph newsworthy events could legally sell those photos to the media where professional news photographers could not.

The solution combines Dejero LIVE+ transmitters and cloud services with Aeryon’s rugged, quickly deployable SkyRanger small UAS.

The Federal Aviation Administration is moving toward loosening its rules for non-military drones after facing withering criticism from companies that hope to use the technology to make deliveries. FAA Administrator Michael Huerta said Wednesday that the agency is launching a “Pathfinder Program” that will test the possibility of allowing drones to fly beyond the line of vision of their operators.