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Comment by rualca | Hacker News Reader

> Youtube money must've been pretty good to keep going.

The idiot's most viewed video has about 33k views. I'm not sure that's enough to cover $200k in fines.

The videos don’t appear to be monetized, which is just as well, since that would be another violation - unlicensed commercial drone flight.

You can likely monetize Youtube for incidental footage during your flights without a commercial drone license, but not for real estate, pipeline, etc.

This is more of a concern, and likely heavily violated:

"You must fly in Class G airspace. If you need to fly in Class B, C, D or E controlled airspace, you need to apply for airspace authorization."

https://www.dronepilotgroundschool.com/drone-license/

Most US cities would be Class B/C to the ground near a large airport, and Class D/E would be common for smaller cities.

> You can likely monetize Youtube for incidental footage during your flights without a commercial drone license

It's a grey area I agree; but if you're filming your flights with the intention of putting the videos on YouTube and monetizing them, that's arguably commercial use.

It is a grey area, but if the FAA goes after drone pilots for this, then they should also go after the many student and private pilots who monetize their training and flight videos.

Fair warning to anyone thinking of taking advantage of this gray area: the FAA is very, very strict when it comes to interpreting whether something is a commercial op. Pilots, for example, are considered to be getting compensation when they log flight hours, even if no money changes hands. (If this sounds ridiculous, you’ve never had to build 1500 hours. Every tenth is solid gold.)

A popular blogging couple were fined for making blogs in national parks. I link to a different website for the short version.

https://drivinvibin.com/2020/10/23/rv-couple-fined/

I’m a Part 107 licensed “remote pilot”, and YouTube monetization was explicitly called out in the training materials. If you make money with your drone or use it in support of any commercial activity, the FAA requires certification.

>unlicensed commercial drone flight.

That's incredible. Why does this specifically need a license? How is this going to be any different to just flying as a hobby?

Restrictions on commercial flight are there to protect the public from getting involved with unsafe operators. It’s to ensure that people obtaining flight services are getting a safe product.

Well for start, the money. Which introduces all sorts of legal liability issues, aside from regulations concerning profiteering from use of public spaces.

not even close!

Good

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