With regards to non-commercial drone ownership and use, I think it:
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As always (Score:2)
Would you undertake voting fraud? (Score:5, Funny)
If a truly detestable person seemed likely to win the elections, would you consider voting fraud to try to prevent that?
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First two options are identical, they both translate to "it's okay to subvert democracy if it means MY candidate wins!"
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"First two options are identical, they both translate to "it's okay to subvert democracy if it means MY candidate wins!"
Which talking to people seems to be how a lot of them feel, so the results wouldn't be uninteresting. And amongst those, you would get a split between the candidates, so the poll options make total sense. That said my vote would probably also be "Yes, but I wouldn't know where to begin anyway".
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It's still not who votes that counts, but who counts the votes.
If you want to subvert democracy, you change voter boundaries, or how difficult it is to immigrate / get citizenship, or which citizens are excluded from voting (e.g. criminals or by age). The more insidious governments will run down whole regions that were never going to vote for them - e.g. the north of England under Thatcher - while subsidising regions which were likely to vote in the government's favour: a sense of hopelessness is the best w
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Woah, settle down there, Billy Bob. There ain't no "left" left to speak of in 'Murica.
Also, LOOSES LOOSES LOOSES LOOSES LOOSES LOOSES LOOSES LOOSES LOOSES LOOSES etc.
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If I assume that you mean "loses" and you were just another victim of an uninformed spell checker, how would you know? I suspect you have zero experience with left-wingers.. There is an easy way to tell...
Consider the word "liberal". If you consider them far left, or use the two concepts interchangeably, you are unaware that "liberal" means neither left or right. If you consider the liberal middle ground as the left, you may be living somewhere with only middle ground and right wing politics.
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And the quote was Stalin's typical dark humour: "Of course the voting process here is unfair, as anywhere."
Actually the Stalin quote is completely made up. Stalin never said that, nor anything like that.
Stalin's actual operational mode was "since there is clearly only one right choice for the way the government will run, there will be only one party, and only one candidate. A second candidate would be superfluous."
(and, in the deepest days of Stalinism: "a second candidate would be shot.")
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That is some seriously revisionist shit. (He did visit, the federal government has put in shitloads of money in aid, and most certainly did comment on it.) Justin would have been a failure to you short of stopping the fire himself.
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No, they aren't. The responses would give a view as to who is the preferred candidate of the dishonest.
Now, stop being an asshole and post under your own name to undo your bogus downmod.
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CowboyNeal (and the Russians) have already hacked the electronic voting system ensuring my candidate's defeat.
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She betrayed her husband's trust and put the State above the Family. Two great sins the so called "Liberals" wish we commit more often.
Re: Would you undertake voting fraud? (Score:2)
I'm as liberal as they come (at least for the USA) but I think she should have faced some legal repercussions for what she did.
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those conservatives who wish for more rapes are worse than the liberals who wish we would put state above family.
While this is true, it would have been just as true without using the words "conservatives" or "liberals".
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general poll suggestion (Score:3)
whipslash, thanks for keeping the flame...
so, I don't have a specific suggestion for a poll, but I am always interested in polls about what types of software, OS, and just general tech tools people use
I like hearing about what other /.'ers use for work and such...always get good ideas in the comments too
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Thank-you. I was going to post the same thing, having been frustrated by the polls lately
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Which one advance by itself would convince you to jump to obtain a premium VR setup (at the moment, one that connects to a PC or game console)?
)Hand-held touch controllers supported by every VR experience.
)Sensor gloves, which track hand/finger movement.
)Wireless PC connectivity or standalone headsets (that don't require a smartphone) with reasonable battery life.
)Positional audio software and improved 3d audio headphones which modify sounds according to geometry and materials and can present them to your e
Poll feedback and suggestion (Score:2)
Is there a convenient way to summarize the responses to polls? Both in terms of the number of votes (and how quickly the voting dies out) and in terms of the number of relevant comments (perhaps reflecting positive moderation). My own reaction to this poll is "Who cares?" so my Cowboy Neal vote is a kind of "mu" response.
Poll suggestion from the recent article about OpenOffice: Something about viable financial models. Maybe the poll would be something along the lines of "What financial model would get your
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Comment on this thread with poll ideas.
Where's the "Who cares, but allow me to shoot them down over my property." option?
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How's your job? (Score:3)
Suggested poll:
How do you feel about your current job?
(1) I'm in Quadrant 1 of great work with great pay.
(2) I'm in Q2 with good work and poor compensation.
(3) Q3 with bad work and good pay.
(4) Q4 of bad work and pay (or none of either).
(5) I'm before (a student) or after (retired) a job.
(6) I'm floating like a butterfly.
(7) I work for Cowboy Neal, gawd save me.
(8) Cowboy Neal works for me, gawd save y'all.
Suggested comment: What percentage of your career has been spent in the various quadrants?
Should have
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Does Option (4) need to be more explicit?
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You need to give more options:
No
Nope
Never
Cowboy Neil says no.
They're remote controlled model plains... (Score:1)
Stop the filming (Score:1)
I don't think there should be particularly onerous rules on flying drones (except strict noise limits, minimum height and no flying near an airport), but I am completely opposed to people filming me or my place from above, and that includes high resolution images like the ones on Google Earth/Maps. That's an invasion of privacy, in a private environment. My yard is not public.
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"My yard is not public."
Unfortunately, depending on jurisdiction, it is, and has been for decades.
That is why in places like California, people put up "Privacy Fences", usually made out of Redwood or Cedar.
It has to do with Nuisance Laws. Generally, you can sit naked in your back yard Hot Tub or Barbecue, and if you can't be _reasonably_ seen, it's OK. By putting up a fence, or closing curtains inside on publicly facing areas, you can get your perv on. If you want to take apart a Model T and scatter odd rus
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I don't think there should be particularly onerous rules on flying drones (except strict noise limits, minimum height and no flying near an airport), but I am completely opposed to people filming me or my place from above, and that includes high resolution images like the ones on Google Earth/Maps. That's an invasion of privacy, in a private environment. My yard is not public.
Plus: I'm sure girls don't want drones flying low over beaches taking pictures of them (you know it will happen). And there should be special restrictions for things like nudist beaches, naturist camps, etc. Again: You know it will happen...
In short: We need a "no drones" law, special signs for any areas that want to apply for a no-drones status, suitable penalties for people who ignore them.
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My yard is not public.
It is if you keep littering photons from your yard up into airspace above your home that you do not own.
Why should commercial be different from private? (Score:5, Interesting)
Why does the "commercial" distinction make a difference? What is it, that's good for the privately owned and used goose, that's not good for the commercial gander?
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Because commercial drones should be subjected to *more* regulations.
You or I putzing around on a quadcopter in our backyard doesn't have nearly the potential for disaster as amazon or dominos unleashing a fleet of these things on the populace.
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Au contraire! Millions of "you and me" — with little experience, not much to risk, and on a budget — have a much higher potential for a "disaster", than Amazon or Domino's, who — seeking to profit and avoid lawsuits — would spend considerable efforts and funds to get it right.
That said, I'm still struggling to
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The scale of any potential disaster is really where the discrepancy lies.
If I completely screw up and fly my drone into a power pole, neighbor's window or small child, that's terrible, but it's just the single issue
If some company has drones with issues flying into power lines, people's windows, or small children, that's a much much bigger problem
Also, my drone operation would tend to involve me in a wide open park, standing around with controls in my hand, looking up at my drone. This provides context for
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But it is not a single issue — because you are not alone. There are millions of such amateur drone "pilots".
Or peeping [theintercept.com], or filming police [vice.com], or recording firefighters [time.com] — and interfering with their work. A private drone-operator can be just as much a dangerous nuisance as anyone else. But an
Re:Why should commercial be different from private (Score:5, Interesting)
This rationale holds true for drone flights, with perhaps a decreased risk factor. A hobbyist might look at the weather and say "I don't want to fly in this wind, my expensive toy could end up in the neighbor's tree" when someone being paid could say "I have insurance". Multiply that by the number of expected drones in the next few years and it becomes a rather large problem.
Personally, I have no problem with the way the FAA is handling the situation. They're putting safety first, as they have always done [faa.gov] and being professional by putting a lot of thought into their new regulations rather than hastily pushing a poorly-written, loophole-ridden set of regs that need revision every 2 months. Imagine the confusion among drone pilots whether the new maximum altitude was 300' or 400' this month, and imagine the nightmare of writing, rewriting, and deploying new regulation-compliance software for the drones if the rules kept changing.
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It would have to cover build-quality of the drone. Inbuilt safeguards. Limitations on weight / speed, per flight or vehicular licensing. And perhaps the hardest part would be to qualify the flight controls, radio link and default actions on loss of signal.
Once all of these became type-approved, I can't see the price of a drone being anywhere near what an amateur would consider expendable.
Although the world of model aircraft extends right up to 2
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As well-meaning as this sounds, there is no escaping the fact, that the approach is utterly paternalistic. The government officials "know better", what's good for you, citizen...
This is wrong in principle.
You make a good point. However, it is also important to remember nearly everything the FAA does is actually about protecting others. Something may be perfectly fine for you, and to be perfectly honest if people want to be reckless and engage in self-destructive behavior, then I say let them. However, if someone's reckless behavior causes harm to another, then we have a problem.
For example, you might be able to drive just fine with a blood alcohol level of 0.10. However, most people cannot. Given the po
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That may be, how FAA justifies its existence — both to taxpayers and themselves.
However, a person on the ground is extremely unlikely to die from an airplane falling on them. A reckless pilot is dangerous to himself and those, who volunteer to fly with him.
I'd like to see evidence of this "high likelihood".
I prefer to view this from the human rights perspective. And my view of pilot
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Of course, you're right in principle.
Unfortunately, the real world is filled with idiots with absolutely no concern for anybody's safety including their own, so a modicum of paternalism is occasionally warranted.
A rather graphic example of this would be this careless drone pilot's self-decapitation [nypost.com]. Perhaps a rule stating that it is illegal to land within x number of feet from people on the ground could have prevented this.
I don't think striking a balance between the freedom to fly drones and the rights of
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It's not paternalistic, it's a reaction to 100 years of experience.
You say that like those things are mutually exclusive. They aren't.
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There are basically three levels of quad(and hexa, etc)copter devices (loosely):
1) Toy Grade: These generally cost $100 USD or less. Most have a range of 100m or less. And most will fall from the sky when they loose radio contact with the controller. If they have cameras, tend to be 720p or lower resolution. Virtually all have brushed motors. They tend to be small and light, and cause little damage if they collide with something like a window. Are used for the simple enjoyment of flying by the pilots.
2) Hob
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Why does the "commercial" distinction make a difference? What is it, that's good for the privately owned and used goose, that's not good for the commercial gander?
Why do commercial drivers have different licensing requirements?
Why do commercial pilots have different licensing requirements?
Why do commercial plumbers have different licensing requirements?
etc etc etc
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Why does the "commercial" distinction make a difference?
Dunno. Perhaps we should ask the IRS, since they love to differentiate as well.
Legal to shoot them (Score:2)
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What's "obviously" spying?
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why are there still no privacy regs? (Score:4, Insightful)
So there's been a shifty-looking guy flying a drone over houses in my neighborhood nearly every morning for the past 2 weeks or so, which is wierd because there's a large park right down the street.
He's obviously spying into peoples back yards and has flown low enough that he hast lost the drone in peoples yards 2 or 3 times now, and had to ring on the door to get it back.
A female neighborhood resident approached him on the street and asked him what hes doing, but he gave her a mouthful of abuse and said he has every right to be there.
The neighborhood watch phoned the police and they said there is no law to stop him, and that people actually have no right to privacy even in their back yards, and even if he's using the drone to film through their windows.
The new FAA regulations are only concerned with drones flying over airports or other danger areas, being a hazard to other aircraft, and basically give hobby users carte blanche.
If there is any regulation it should be about privacy.
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Here's the solution:
http://www.instructables.com/i... [instructables.com]
If it's over my property then I have the right to throw rocks at it. If it lands in my yard then I have the right to "accidentally" drop something heavy on it.
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It would be a pity if he overflew your yard while you were watering it, possibly with a high pressure nozzle and high angle to get to distant parts of the yard, and it got in the way of the stream.
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If he loses it in your yard, you have a few choices.
1) Just give it back, same as you would do if a child accidentally kicked a ball into your yard. With a creep such as you've described, this would not be my choice.
2) Use hammer or other tool to break the camera lens or the camera itself, then return it. You might want to wipe the video first though, and might want to approach it from a blind angle.
2a) Or! Put on a show. Scream "A RAT!", grab a sledgehammer (or a shotgun), and
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Good point. Remove the battery before letting the dogs "find" it.
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3) Don't return it, period. Finders keepers, losers weepers and all that. You don't even have to admit you have it.
Or you could look at it as falling under the "unsolicited delivery of goods" laws, and you now have a drone.
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1. You are not supposed to fly over the heads of people, without their prior knowledge and permission.
2.You are not supposed to fly over private property without permission.
3. The FAA is not only concerned with airports and other danger areas. There are plenty of regulations involved here. maximum/minimum flight heights etc.
You do not have an expectation of privacy, but that doesn't allow for flights over you or your private property.
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>> but that doesn't allow for flights over you or your private property.
According to who? I can't find any legislation to that effect anywhere.
In fact a call to the local police said that there was nothing that they could do even if the drone was hovering just outside your window and filming you through it.
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You can’t fly a small UAS over anyone who is not directly participating in the operation, not under a covered structure, or not inside a covered stationary vehicle. No operations from a moving vehicle are allowed unless you are flying over a sparsely populated area.
This is from the section 107 remote pilot certification. So it looks like two immediate laws are being violated by yet another asshat giving drones operators a bad name. 1. Go stand out in your yard. he is violating a safety guideline. 2.
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interesting point. IF it is a private drone, and you think he is spying on you, you might have some fun with a laser pointer, as that is no more illegal then spying on you is when it comes to private drones.
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Fuck some girly laser pointer. I'm seriously wondering whats the best way to build a cheap EMP gun strong enough to bring it down. Then baseball bat.
"common-sense" (Score:2)
Should Be Unregulated (Score:4, Funny)
Hummm (Score:1)
As a libertarian, I'm not too big of a fan of regulating and registering things. The government's job is to bring justice if someone violates my life, liberty or property.
In this respect I believe that regulating drone piloting to only those with a license is not good.
I believe regulations should be limited to protect Life and Property. For instance no flying around Airports.
Regulations already exist to protect people's privacy (a liberty.) Trespassing laws for instance.
The question boils down to how do we
Enforce current regulations (Score:5, Interesting)
Really, the existing regulations work fine if they were enforced properly.
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Common sense (Score:2)
Regulate by weight class (Score:3)
If a drone weighs more than say 5 lbs, it should require a license to operate. If someone were to lose control and the drone fell out of the sky and hit your child in the head. You would want the operator to be licensed and insured to cover the medical bills, or if it broke your window, or crashed into your car parked in the driveway. Insurance would probably require the licensing, but making it law would clarify things.
Also different licenses for different weight classes. A 2 lb quadcopter wouldn't need a license, but 150 lb drone would require a different class of license than a 20 lb drone, similar to being licensed to drive a Semi Truck vs a normal passenger vehicle. A hobbyist drone shouldn't require a license in the lowest weight class, but to fly a UAV with a 10 ft wingspan, I think they should be both licensed and insured.
Also clarification of privacy laws as it is very difficult to say whether a drone is purposefully taking video through someone's window at a vantage point not possible from the ground or a neighbors house where someone would have a reasonable expectation of privacy.
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So added redundancies like redundant flight controllers, redundant IMUS/Motors/GPS and antenna and back up communication systems which make the drone safer should be regulated. SO everyone builds for the cheapest lightweight 5 lb drone without a single instance of safety or precaution b4ecause then it isn't regulated. They did away with logic like yours as it is mindless and insipid. If you think a 5 lb drone falling from 400 feet onto your skull is acceptable, then you are issing the point. It is better to
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The classes limit is based on potential for damage. For instance, something under 8 ounces is unlikely to do much harm unless someone gets a propeller in the eye. A battery powered drone is less likely to cause a fire than a gasoline powered drone.
Licensing for something that is essentially a toy, is a nuisance, and expands government for no real benefit to the general populace. License the operators of big, fast, potentially dangerous drones and register those drones only. Don't harass the makers of a new,
Legal game (Score:3)
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Owning drones should be legal with little regulation, and the same should be true for shooting at annoying drones.
I would rather not change discharge laws to allow for annoyed landowners to shoot at drones. I get it, we want to be able to have some kind of privacy on our land. Unless you are installing a non-transparent dome over your property, or building 35 foot tall fences around your house, then any house 2 stories (or like mine, 38' tall) can see into your property even three or four houses down (assuming typical 1/3 to 1/2 acre plot) whether you realize it or not. Privacy is not the concern, my concern is lack of
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NIMBY (Score:2)
Or I'll supersoak the flyer.
Several classes needed (Score:2)
There's the 'hobby' class, which is based on self regulation and calls for flight below 500 ft and within visual range of the operator. Anything beyond this should require a pilot's license to the degree that they need to know the 'rules of the road' and the FAA has something to pull should they commit violations. I don't see a distinction between recreational and hobby use, as long as the operational characteristics are the same. A business that can fly below 500 feet and within visual range of the operato
Need to categorize drones (Score:2)
I think that very lightweight drones that do not represent a hazard including through aircraft ingestion only need to be regulated in terms of noise and privacy ordinances. As the size / hazard of the drones goes up, the regulations should be tighter. A drone the size of a manned aircraft should operate under the same regulations.
One gaping hole in the current regulations (Score:2)
The FAA has time and time again totally missed the non-profit non-law-enforcement-based volunteer search & rescue use-case. First of all, it's definitely NOT (repeat NOT) commercial because, by the FAA's own definition of the word, non-profit volunteer search & rescue does not get compensated for its activities. I don't care what you think you about it or what your interpretation of the FAR/AIM is, that's a fact. Second, search & rescue does not have the luxury of waiting 48 hours to get appr
Tiered licencing and registered (Score:2)
Drones come in many forms, some with longer range and elevation than others. Those that can fly over 500 feet high (for example) need to be classified differently, requiring more pilot capability and regular maintenance, jut like real planes.
Small slow low flying drones with minimal payloads should be treated as toys and minimally regulated until they pose a threat.
But I like the idea that all drones be registered, with a permanent serial number and owner name and address. That's a minimal inconvenience a
Obligatory XKCD (Score:2)
https://xkcd.com/1523/ [xkcd.com]
Poll: Windows 10 (Score:2)
[x] A popup that offers to download and install Windows 10.
[_] The popup doesn't have a Cancel or No button
[_] It does, but the Cancel and No buttons, and clicking X in the title bar install it anyway.
[_] The popup has no buttons and says, you can even pull the power cord from the electrical outlet, and Windows 10 will be installed for your convenience on the next reboot.
[_] The popup says that you need to give the Linux sudo password to begin inst
Gotta Respect Private Property of Others (Score:2)
It truly is a shame that Common Sense Isn't anymore.
Privacy concerns, private property and trespassing, etc.
These things seem to fade into the background all the time. Other things like property damage (if a drone crashes into something) and similar liability.
Model planes and helicopters exist, and can be quite dangerous in the wrong hands, too. We've had them for years. Now that drones have a greater level of control, they pose a greater threat? I'm surprised that we haven't heard about R/C planes loaded w
Regulation of Drones Nothing to do With Safety (Score:2)
It's about *Who* gets to see what.
There is no statistical surge of horrible quadcopter maimings.
This is just governments and corporations stopping the internet before it happens again.
The internet allows the surfs to openly communicate and spread the word without government control. This has been bad news for countries where governments used to rely on simple propaganda to keep the masses in line. We are now suffering the last generation of people to can't stand that the communication genie has been let ou
Ham it up (Score:2)
* Toy grade: you can buy it at walmart and has no licensing requirements.
* Amateur grade:operators pass an exam and received a licensing that considerably opens up what they can do.
* Professional grade: License and insured operators. Organizations or individual subject to civil and criminal prosecution.
Obviously not a direct correlation between the two models, but it is a place to start.
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Why not make it like cars (In USA)? Some basic training is needed for general use, but if you use it on your own private property none is required.