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Comments section tough guys and fictional sitcom characters like Ron Swanson have popularized the idea that it's completely acceptable to shoot a drone out of the sky. As one man in California recently learned, it's not: A judge just awarded a drone pilot $850 in a lawsuit related to the shotgunning of his custom-built drone.
Way back in November, I was contacted by a man who said his drone had just been shot while flying over his parents' farm. Before talking on the record to the press, he wanted to get the case settled either with his neighbor or with the legal system. In late May, his case was finally finished—the first lawsuit relating to the destruction of a drone to become public.
"It didn't occur to me to set a precedent," Eric Joe, the pilot, told me. "I didn't want to go down this route, I wanted to get it resolved civilly, but that didn't work out."
Legal experts say that shooting down a drone with a gun should technically be a federal felony offense. Because the Federal Aviation Administration has decided to consider drones "aircraft" (and has fought for that distinction in court) and has not yet created specific rules about their use, shooting at one should be a violation of federal code 18 §32, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
www.vice.com
Way back in November, I was contacted by a man who said his drone had just been shot while flying over his parents' farm. Before talking on the record to the press, he wanted to get the case settled either with his neighbor or with the legal system. In late May, his case was finally finished—the first lawsuit relating to the destruction of a drone to become public.
"It didn't occur to me to set a precedent," Eric Joe, the pilot, told me. "I didn't want to go down this route, I wanted to get it resolved civilly, but that didn't work out."
Legal experts say that shooting down a drone with a gun should technically be a federal felony offense. Because the Federal Aviation Administration has decided to consider drones "aircraft" (and has fought for that distinction in court) and has not yet created specific rules about their use, shooting at one should be a violation of federal code 18 §32, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
The Sky's Not Your Lawn: Man Wins Lawsuit After Neighbor Shotgunned His Drone
No, you can't just go shooting drones out of the sky.
www.vice.com
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