Release the Drones - Bloomberg View: Back in 2012, Congress told the FAA to put guidelines in place by 2013 and have a plan for detailed drone regulation by 2015. The agency will miss both of those deadlines. And its dithering has put it in an awkward legal position: The FAA may have ample potential legal authority over drones, particularly when it comes to safety, but its inability to hammer out the details is keeping it from taking a stand on their commercial use.
In the meantime, uncertainty about drones' legality has driven entrepreneurs to sell their drones outside the U.S., in places such as Brazil and Colombia. And there are still no rules on privacy invasion, even though it is very likely that drones will be filming in locations near you. Every state should establish a coordinated licensing and privacy regime for drones as quickly as possible. There's no time to wait for the feds to catch up.