Photo courtesy of MarkusMark via Wikimedia Commons.

Here we go.  We all knew this would start to happen.  Dopey tourists flying their drones too close to something and eventually crashing it.  Today in Milan, three Korean men who were in town for the Expo 2015 were flying their drone around the Cathedral of Milan. 

They caught the attention of the company that is working on the cathedral who alerted authorities.  When the tourists were approached, they lost control of their vehicle and crashed it into the scaffolding of the workers and caused some minor damage. There is no word if or when they will be charged, but they were taken in by the authorities for questioning. 

This is not the first time that people have gotten in trouble with their drones overseas.  In October of last year, an Israeli tourist was jailed for flying over one of Paris’ main attractions.  And the February before a French Foreign Legion member was held by police after making a video of the Eiffel tower. 

England also has strict laws when it comes to operating drones. The law states drones must not be flown within 150 meters of any congested area, or within 50 meters of buildings not owned by their operator.

Here at home, the FAA is about to clear commercial drones within the next year. Amazon has already come out and announced that they will be beginning drone delivery as soon as federal law allows.  The personal drone war is starting to come about as well.  In July of last year a man was arrested for filming with his drone outside of a hospital into an examination room.  He was eventually acquitted.  But you never know where this is going to go.

So make sure you check with local authorities before you take your fancy drone out and start filming for that new perspective.  You want to make sure that you don’t end up with a new perscpetive of the back of a polica car.

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