In October, the FAA announced a drone operator had been fined $1.9 million for "reckless" operations.

Drones will now be registered, so the FAA will know who to send to Gitmo when some doofus flying a drone in restricted airspace knocks down an airliner.

I know this is entirely possible, because for several years prior to the birth of the stabilized quadcopter, I experimented with various remote control (RC) aerial camera platforms.  As a registered doofus, (RD) I crashed them all, into trees, houses, cars and one unsuspecting dog taking a nap.

The new quad/octo aerial camera platforms have a tremendous advantage over the early RC units in their ability to fly by GPS.  In most systems, you can release the controls just before you crash into the clubhouse and the unit will hover or return to the starting point.

But most golf course superintendents are highly competent individuals and will see GPS flying as "training wheels".  They will attempt to fly the quad like an Apache Gunship and, lacking the skills of someone like TurfNetter Curtis Nickerson--who can build and fly a real RC helicopter like a T-Rex--they will likely end up in Gitmo with unsympathetic roommates.

I have given up on aerial cams, because the effect is now so common that it has lost that special look . . . and then there's that part about my doofus status.  Plus, we live in a hyper-litigious society where some homeowner might sue, claiming the drone was taking clandestine photos of him while nekkid sunbathing or snooping over his "special" garden.

The real worry comes when some RD weaponizes the machine, something we have already witnessed Here at the 'bottum.  Watch this entry in the Ten Years of Rockbottum Film Festival for actual footage of a weaponized drone: