What the practice of law is developing into . . .

[Sope Creek]

from Amazon, a job posting for an attorney to support this:

"We are looking for a talented attorney to support Prime Air, our new
delivery system being developed in Amazon's next generation R&D lab.
Prime Air's goal is to get packages into customers' hands in 30 minutes
or less using unmanned aerial systems."

The job is at the vortex of engineering, aviation, intellectual property law, contract law, privacy law . . . .

Amazon Prime Air

 

[i'vegotwinners]

on a side note, anyone know if homeowners have any "airspace" rights above their property.

if Marty McFly rides his hoverboard over McNutt 76's lawn, at an altitude of 2 feet, is he trespassing?

 

[CO. Hoosier]

Fortunately tort law will still apply to these contraptions

unless of course Amazon buys enough influence to get statutory immunity.

 

[meridian]

It is not "unless,"

it is "they will." That is why they need attorneys, perhaps more than scientists and engineers.

 

[Marvin the Martian]

it is a brave new world

Drone delivery and 3D printing are going to change a lot going forward. Who will be the first pizza company to use drones?

But with 3D and drones with still more telecommuting, we will soon have more roads than we need or can afford.

Where I see legal problems for drones will not be in accidents but in privacy. How long until videos shot from drones into sororities start appearing.

 

[davegolf]

Great summary " Unlimited air rights existed when people began owning trespassing."

 

[Sope Creek]

Price of pizza will have to go up . . .

what tip to you give on the delivery? Does it go to the guy driving the drone?

How much do you s'pose a drone-driver will make per hour?

 

[davegolf]

Re: Price of pizza will have to go up . . .


Back in the day we had remote control cars, planes and boats controlled by joy sticks. Except for the helicopter action what is different today. I don't understand the hoopla except maybe for the range. Maybe I am just getting old.

 

[davegolf]

Great read on natures original drone


The history of "drone" use is fascinating! Pigeons were probably our first real drones.

Original Drone

 

[Marvin the Martian]

Range, power and cost

I have an RC plane. It cost about $300 ten years ago or so. I can control it over what, a football field or so away (maybe less, my eyesight being the bit limitation ). I can't carry anything more than a hamster on it. I sure couldn't control it well enough to do anything in general public with it (though there are people with far more skills I just never had the time I hoped to have). I don't know what the range was in miles, maybe 2?

A modern drone can be flown from anywhere with a range of 30 miles or so. Because it has cameras, you get a first person view from it to allow better control. I don't know how much Amazon's drones will carry, but undoubtedly 6 pounds would work and maybe as much as 12 by the time it is fully implemented. All this for a cost not much more than some people were paying for top notch RC planes 10 years ago or so. And all this is today, I bet in five years we are going to see a huge leap in capability. And of course, for delivery I suspect hover will be critical which an RC helicopter can do, but my plane calls that "crashing". Which, by the way, I am an expert at.

Pizza delivery is a bit far fetched for now. The cost and weight issues are a problem. I think we have to get to 20 pounds to carry an insulated pizza. But in five years? If I owned a pizza place just opening then I would consider the possibility as a publicity stunt. "This weekend get your pizza delivered by drone". Especially in a college town I think it would be incredibly successful.

 

[davegolf]

Re: Range, power and cost


Never got much into planes (crashed 2 and gave up) but I had a high power rc racing boat which had quite a long range almost out of sight. I had a down rigger clip on it and would run down the lake a little to a hotspot release the lure with a little jerk and fish all the way back to the house. Actually tried trolling with it but it did not operate well at slower speeds.