FOR YEARS, the rules on unmanned aerial vehicles — also known as drones — have been irrational. Recreational drone users — ordinary people who buy quadcopters at Walmart and play around with them in their backyards — have been given broad freedom to pilot their flying devices. This seems to have resulted in increasingly large numbers of close-call incidents reported by commercial airline pilots. Meanwhile, companies have been largely barred from using drones for all sorts of productive uses, from surveying storm damage to taking aerial photos to delivering packages. This bizarre situation will change on Monday. But the government still has a long way to go to enable the tantalizing possibilities unmanned flying machines offer … MORE
The Washington Post | Aug. 29, 2016
