Is a drone Christmas too risky for retail?

With prices coming down as low to as $80 for some models, up to a million drones may be sold this coming holiday season. Unfortunately, that wasn’t an exuberant prediction from a retail merchant, but a warning from the F.A.A.

Speaking in late September at the Airlines for America (A4A) Commercial Aviation Industry Summit in Washington DC, Rich Swayze, F.A.A. assistant administrator-policy, international affairs and environment, said his agency was planning to send a representative to Walmart to educate its salespeople about the safety issues around unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), among other moves.

"We’re trying to get out and educate people about potential dangers," said Mr. Swayze, according to Aviation Week.

On Monday, federal regulators announced that recreational drone operators would be required to register their aircraft. A task force has been created to establish guidelines for the national registry by Nov. 20, with the goal of instilling the program before the end of the holiday season.

Drones are a particular concern for the airline industry with several pilots reporting drones flying too close for comfort. Others have expressed concerns about potential risks with drones being used around crowded public venues. Some drones have impeded efforts to fight wildfires this summer in California, and others have drawn unwanted attention at stadiums, hospitals and other public areas. Beyond safety, privacy advocates are concerned drones could be used to spy on people.

Drone

People often buy a drone for fun, but they "don’t understand that there is responsibility, and there are rules that you have to follow," Tom McMahon, a spokesman for the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) told CBS News.

Accusing legislators of "fear-mongering," Michael Drobac, the executive director of the Small U.A.V. Coalition, a drone advocacy group whose members include Google, Amazon, and camera maker GoPro, told Fortune he is concerned that the F.A.A. and the Department of Transportation (D.O.T.) "won’t come up with something that will help us move us forward as a country in advancing this technology on their own."

Many also wonder how drones will be registered.

Florida lawyer Jonathan Rupprecht, author of a book on drone law, told MarketWatch he believes registration may ease concerns over safety and privacy, but also wondered who would be responsible for any registrations.

"Who is going to regulate this? Point-of-sale? Walmart? Best Buy?" he asked. "What if I’m ordering parts off the Internet and put them together? That’s what the gun industry does."

BrainTrust

"The technology behind video potentially makes drones the latest method of stalking and gives new meaning to the term Peeping Tom! Society was behind the curve in recognizing and regulating all of the potential issues that the internet technology brought up."

J. Peter Deeb

Managing Partner, Deeb MacDonald & Associates, L.L.C.


"You might fly one by the conference room window of your business competitor and snap pics of the whiteboard. Which brings me to a new business idea: A drone repellent appliance that sits on your roof like a lightning rod and jams the controller signal. Anybody want to invest?"

James Tenser

Retail Tech Marketing Strategist | B2B Expert Storytellingâ„¢ Guru | President, VSN Media LLC


"Unfortunately, these extremely entertaining UVAs have the potential to cause accidents and to be used to facilitate some crimes. The regulation is sure to be complex, but it really is just a registration."

Larry Negrich

Director, SaaS Marketing, Zebra Technologies


Discussion Questions

Do you agree that drones need to be regulated? Do you see potential complications around the retail sale of drones?

Poll

15 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Ralph Jacobson
Ralph Jacobson
8 years ago

Any product’s use can be abused, and this one’s potential is obvious. So it needs to be managed to minimize the abuse.

Max Goldberg
Max Goldberg
8 years ago

There have been too many close calls between drones and fire and police department helicopters for them not to be regulated. Drone operators who fly too close to police emergencies and fires need to be identified. They are jeopardizing public safety. If that means registering drones so the operators can be identified, so be it.

This probably means a new level of compliance for retailers that will happen just before the holiday season. With upwards of 1 million drones expected to be sold, this could be difficult for retailers.

Tony Orlando
Tony Orlando
8 years ago

This could get ugly, as there are too many nut jobs with bad intentions. Could you imagine if gangs started using these in neighborhoods with weapons attached to these things? I love technology and the good that comes out of it, but it is going to add to the workload of local officials to monitor this and keep us safe. Also, our privacy is at risk. Maybe I’m nuts, so I’ll just assume this will be kept in the hands of folks who want to have a little fun.

Tom Redd
Tom Redd
8 years ago

Drones MUST be regulated. Why? They can and will be misused and the person responsible for the misuse must be held liable. Just like guns. They should be registered at the retailer’s point of purchase — like in sporting goods. Heavier drones are not toys. The FAA is looking at registering the larger drones, not the short-life battery-powered kids toys. The build-it-with-parts channels are already traceable, just like guns. My neighbor builds his own competitive sport guns and to enter a shoot they must be registered. For droners to enter any contests they should be registered.

Drones, like guns, can be used for terrorist or criminal purposes. Let’s hope current drone owners are responsible flyers and register them.

Hoping local police will be armed with drone-guided trackers that can pick up the megahertz bandwidth that a flying drone is on. If the drone displays no registration numbers they could overtake the controls and confiscate it from the droner. They could then re-sell them and make money for local communities where the droner was flying.

I estimate BB gun sales will rise this Christmas. The Red Rider will be seen by some kids as a Drone shooter! DroneFighters Unite!

Steve Montgomery
Steve Montgomery
8 years ago

Yes. I understand that many smaller drones are seen as toys but the incidents that have already been reported show that at a minimum that they can be disruptive and in the worst cases very destructive.

With the short time between regulations being drafted and the holidays we can anticipate a lot of confusion on what needs to be done both all parties — manufacturers, retailers and consumers.

J. Peter Deeb
J. Peter Deeb
8 years ago

I do agree that drones need to be regulated and registered. The public safety issue is too important not to regulate this industry. Motor vehicles that use designated roadways are regulated — the skies are much too dangerous not to regulate them. Then there is the issue of privacy. The technology behind video potentially makes drones the latest method of stalking and gives new meaning to the term Peeping Tom! Society was behind the curve in recognizing and regulating all of the potential issues that the internet technology brought up. Let’s avoid the same thing with drones.

Ed Rosenbaum
Ed Rosenbaum
8 years ago

Drones are looked at as toys or recreation. I am not sure I buy that. There is too much of a chance for more bad than good to happen. (Read what Tony said, possibly with some tongue-in-cheek humor.} There is going to be a day when the bad guys figure out how to profit from drones and we will again be left saying we never saw it coming.

Jack Pansegrau
Jack Pansegrau
8 years ago

Absolutely an area where regulation is needed. My son-in-law just purchased a $1,000 drone to shoot videos inside and outside/above homes he’s listing and it will become an important tool in the sale of real estate — a use that should be permitted for sure. But “rubber-necking” around helicopters in emergency situations or near airports? No way. So timely and reasonable regulations are absolutely needed.

Brian Kelly
Brian Kelly
8 years ago

Not yet. Their low-level antics haven’t proved to be a problem … Yet.

If legislation gains traction to hold gun retailers liable then there is a potential complication. I think drones will be the “it” gift this Holiday Season. Awareness is huge. Maybe drones could have saved RadioShack. Perhaps drones are what the Best Buys in Macy’s will sell.

Or as we like to say: “retail ain’t for sissies!”

Ed Dunn
Ed Dunn
8 years ago

85 percent of them will crash and burn within a week, flown by amateur pilots who will return to their mobile app games. Nothing to worry about.

Arthur Rosenberg
Arthur Rosenberg
8 years ago

Terrorists have long been on the victim side of drones overseas. I fear they will now seek revenge here. This could be relatively easy for them.

James Tenser
James Tenser
8 years ago

Many drones designed for hobbyist use have built-in programming that prevents them from flying out of range of the controller and keeps them stable in flight. Toy models (like the $19.95 Syma Sky Thunder RC D63 Drone Runner now available for sale at Costco are too low-powered to fly far or lift a dangerous payload.

This suggests several ways to maintain safety—require manufacturers to program distance and altitude limitations into toy drones up to a certain gross weight. Object avoidance programming should be required for all drones. Then require licensing and insurance for models large enough to lift professional cameras and other payloads higher and farther. Define programmed no-fly zones near airports and other sensitive areas that defeat RC controls and ground or return them to the operators. Apps could even be developed that store flight path information in the cloud for law enforcement review. (Any interest from you VCs?)

This will all cost something to administer, so license fees will be a necessity. Most retailers will likely want to limit their offerings to the tiny toy models, lest they become collection agents of the process.

The social cost of the drone swarm is another matter entirely. “Peeping Tom” jokes notwithstanding, drones can easily cross your or your neighbors’ airspace for good or bad reasons. What are our legal rights when that happens? Or you might fly one by the conference room window of your business competitor and snap pics of the whiteboard.

Which brings me to a new business idea: A drone repellent appliance that sits on your roof like a lightning rod and jams the controller signal. Anybody want to invest?

Larry Negrich
Larry Negrich
8 years ago

Unfortunately, these extremely entertaining UVAs have the potential to cause accidents and to be used to facilitate some crimes. The regulation is sure to be complex, but it really is just a registration. The registration may make people feel safe, but they won’t be able to keep these out of the hands of people who would have nefarious intent. No fly zones and anti-UVA technology will have to be utilized.

That said, I don’t expect the pending regulations to have an effect on the sales of UVAs in the near term.

Kai Clarke
Kai Clarke
8 years ago

Yes, drones are now a toy that can interfere with airplanes, cars, and invade privacy quite easily. These need regulation, and it will come quickly, as more people purchase these devices for these type of illegal uses.

Carlos Arámbula
Carlos Arámbula
8 years ago

I absolutely agree drones should be regulated. The potential for disaster is very real and I think the speed at which they have become accessible as a toy is irresponsable.