UAS registration: Press conference raises more questions than answers...

I find it troubling that the Department Of Transportation is going to require ALL drones to be registered.  At this time, it seems that even the small micro drones (see www.dronesforthemasses.org), which are little more than flying toys, will not be exempt from the requirement.  

Naturally, I want drone pilots who fly irresponsibly to be stopped.  But requiring parents who buy tiny drones for their children at Christmas, to register these little machines with the Government, seems to be a bit heavy-handed.

In the first place, most micro drones can only be flown approximately fifty feet from their transmitters.  Therefore, unless the pilot is standing at the approach or departure end of an airport runway, micro drones hardly pose a threat to manned aircraft.  Further; if a micro drone does smash through someone's living-room window, the odds are that the drone's owner will be nearby.

The Transportation Secretary said that the details of the new rules are still being worked out.  It is my hope that in the end, the rule(s) will be reasonable, and that they will not be another example of punishing everyone for the sins of the few.