Conflicting Interest #1:  I want to use my freedom to use a drone for business purposes in the United States (ex. I want to film a movie scene from the air or take a photograph of a piece of property I'm trying to sell).  But we have current laws and rules about aircraft flight for public safety reasons.

Enter:  The Federal Aviation Administration (part of the Department of Transportation)

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Source: http://mashable.com/2015/02/15/faa-commercial-drone-rules/

February 15, 2015  

The Federal Aviation Administration proposed a new set of long-awaited commercial drone rules on Sunday. And it sounds like Amazon won't be making those drone deliveries any time soon.

The new FAA rules would allow drones to fly during daylight when they can be seen from the ground by their pilots. Altitude is limited to 500 feet, with speeds no faster than 100 mph.

In addition, drone pilots must be at least 17 years old, pass an "aeronautical knowledge" test and obtain an operating certificate. Drone operators would have to pass a knowledge test every two years.

“We have tried to be flexible in writing these rules,” said FAA administrator Michael Huerta in a news release. “We want to maintain today’s outstanding level of aviation safety without placing an undue regulatory burden on an emerging industry.”

The FAA's proposed rules would also stipulate that drone fliers must avoid manned aircraft and discontinue the flight if it becomes a threat to other aircraft. Of course, this also means staying away from airports and restricted airspace.

The proposal is up for public comment for 60 days, though it will probably take 16-18 months, experts say, for everything to come to pass. So far, drone advocates seem to believe the regulations are, for the most part, reasonable.

Brendan Schulman, a commercial drone law expert, told Mashable that the "proposed regulations are more reasonable than a lot of people feared," but there are limitations that are concerning.

In particular, the prohibition on night operations and line-of-sight requirements could unnecessarily hinder some safe flight operations. For example: An operator may want to fly a drone behind a building, beyond her line of sight, which could be a completely safe thing to do. The FAA proposal, however, would prohibit that use case.

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The FAA did not rule out the possibility of separate regulations for "micro" drones, which weigh less than 4.4 pounds, Schulman said. Today's proposal affects all drones that weigh less than 55 pounds.

Drones are an emerging technology, so they don't have firm regulations as they relate to both everyday people and government officials. In a separate action on Sunday, President Barack Obama issued a memorandum pertaining to drones for federal agencies.

The proposal would forbid drone delivery, so "Google and Amazon will not be pleased quite yet," Ryan Calo, a law professor at the University of Washington and Forbes contributor, told Mashable. Many drone advocates will be pleased, however, he added.

As predicted, Amazon does not appear to be pleased.

"The FAA needs to begin and expeditiously complete the formal process to address the needs of our business, and ultimately our customers," said Paul Misener, Amazon's vice president of Global Public Policy, in a statement. "We are committed to realizing our vision for Prime Air and are prepared to deploy where we have the regulatory support we need.”

Obama's memorandum is meant to help quell privacy fears pertaining to drones.

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Drones have come under fire as threats to privacy. A big reason: Many drones come with attached cameras, allowing the government to engage in possibly unprecedented video surveillance. Under Obama's order, identifying information collected by drones will be kept no more than 180 days.

Drones "are a potentially transformative technology in diverse fields such as agriculture, law enforcement, coastal security, military training, search and rescue, first responder medical support, critical infrastructure inspection, and many others,” the White House said in a statement. “The administration is committed to promoting the responsible use of this technology, strengthening privacy safeguards and ensuring full protection of civil liberties.”

Neither Obama's memorandum nor the FAA proposal changes current rules for model aircrafts.