2018 drone policy

[ethaniel]

Confiscated RC equipment with video footage will not be released back to the participant at the end of the event.
https://burningman.org/event/black-rock ... de/drones/

This part needs to be explained more. Technically, every drone stores video. What if the SD card with it is removed during the confiscation?

[FlyingMonkey]

In 2018 BRC will roll out a new branch of the traditional Ranger corps. These new Sky Rangers will be responsible for and have authority over everything exceeding 25' off the base of the playa. All tall structures, vertical flame effects, and drone activity must be coordinated through the Air Ranger Service Executive office (ARSE). Any unauthorized drones will be chased down & forcefully grounded. Drone owners will be ejected from the event & the pieces of their drones will not be returned.

Here is video of recent Air Ranger training being held off site near BRC.

[Ratty]

Go fly a kite.

[FlyingMonkey]

Go fly a kite.

Sorry, kites will be regulated as well.

[Luigi]

John Goodman as Gil John (Alpha house) sitting in his back yard....

[FlyingMonkey]

John Goodman as Gil John (Alpha house) sitting in his back yard....

No need to be so timid.

In keeping with the robot theme I give you R2D2's pissed off big brother.

[torrey.smith]

We're not exactly an edgy experimental community anymore, are we?

We're about as regulated as a library in a backwater country with a giant list of banned books.

Is anyone interested in stepping up to challenge this bullshit?

What, THE FUCK, am I doing burning my entire life to the ground to bring Sextant to the Playa for, exactly?

[FlyingMonkey]

We're not exactly an edgy experimental community anymore, are we?

We're about as regulated as a library in a backwater country with a giant list of banned books.

Is anyone interested in stepping up to challenge this bullshit?

What, THE FUCK, am I doing burning my entire life to the ground to bring Sextant to the Playa for, exactly?

I do somewhat agree that it's BS & I question their ability to permanently confiscate someone's personal property, but they could also eject violators from the event & remove the data from their memory cards.

Either way, if someone gets busted with an unregistered drone they are in my opinion an asshat that doesn't bother learning or abiding by the rules. I don't agree with all of them but unfortunately I think increased rules are inevitable when an event grows as much as Burning Man has. All it takes is an idiot with a LASER and next year there are no more unregulated lasers (one rule I do agree with). It's not the same as the wild west days and never will be again. Everyone needs to recognize & accept that.

It's their party, they make the rules, and they can kick your ass out if they want to.

But Yes, you are correct.

[ethaniel]

What's next? They're going to ban the drugs too?

[gaminwench]

They don't BAN drones, they restrict use and register a limited number of (responsible/educated/compliant?) machine users.

Pre-playa-control, a drone entered our personal camp livingroom and flew about, presumably taking video footage; had someone decided to disable that drone, would they have been 'assaulting' the machine or protecting personal space? Our camp did NOT want this sort of invasive action in our personal space (does any?).
Here at home in defaultia, unregistered drones have hovered/hassled/photographed folks in their backyards, 'looked' in windows, dropped fecesbombs, and various other nasty behaviours; if the *people* operating aren't responsible/conscious, then the community should regulate, as ours has done.

"We can't have nice things" is largely due to the self-involved portion of our (any) populace that simply can/will not consider that other folks have community rights/standards/expectations that supercede the 'my way' frame.

Keyword:community.

[some seeing eye]

Every rule at BM is the result of the actions of a burner.

A small percentage of the population are stupid, malevolent or mentally ill enough to cause real harm to others, including when they are temporarily chemically altered. As the event grows, those small percentages add up. The US value of "freedom" and its spotty family and social structure can allow those people to fall through the cracks in society and BM can attract them.

Many ePlayans will disagree with me urging new burners toward camps which they meet in person in advance of the burn. I do not believe camps of all virgins are a substitute. That would be like a driving school run by 16 year olds. Solo virgins and the event benefit from socialization and learned good community behavior. Online forums are not a substitute. Camp orientation in person pre-the event can and must stress and engage self reliance.

The drone policy at the event is governed by federal law restricting drone operations near airports. The ORG cannot "opt out" of that regulation. There is also a very serious safety concern about drone radios and pyrotechnics safety.

[torrey.smith]

The drone policy at the event is governed by federal law restricting drone operations near airports. The ORG cannot "opt out" of that regulation. There is also a very serious safety concern about drone radios and pyrotechnics safety.

This is important.

Well, I flew off the handle there.

Argh.

[FlyingMonkey]

Every rule at BM is the result of the actions of a burner.

A small percentage of the population are stupid, malevolent or mentally ill enough to cause real harm to others, including when they are temporarily chemically altered. As the event grows, those small percentages add up. The US value of "freedom" and its spotty family and social structure can allow those people to fall through the cracks in society and BM can attract them.

Many ePlayans will disagree with me urging new burners toward camps which they meet in person in advance of the burn. I do not believe camps of all virgins are a substitute. That would be like a driving school run by 16 year olds. Solo virgins and the event benefit from socialization and learned good community behavior. Online forums are not a substitute. Camp orientation in person pre-the event can and must stress and engage self reliance.

The drone policy at the event is governed by federal law restricting drone operations near airports. The ORG cannot "opt out" of that regulation. There is also a very serious safety concern about drone radios and pyrotechnics safety.

Yeah, until I read the rules I had forgotten that there was an airport on Playa. That's a game changer and completely beyond the scope of the Org. Then I thought about the skydivers encountering drones. That could go bad real quickly. I understand why drones & other things are regulated, why we "can't have nice things". I've heard stories about people shooting guns, driving cars & all kinds of things that are regulated or outright prohibited now. I get that. The fact that a Ranger got blinded by an idiot with a LASER makes me think that maybe there are some things that really need to be regulated BEFORE an incident occurs.

Whats next? Fencing around every burn like last year's Temple? I'd hate to see that but would understand why.

[FlyingMonkey]

The drone policy at the event is governed by federal law restricting drone operations near airports. The ORG cannot "opt out" of that regulation. There is also a very serious safety concern about drone radios and pyrotechnics safety.

This is important.

Well, I flew off the handle there.

Argh.

Meh, it happens.



I still think the point about them keeping someone's property is still a valid concern. But really I have no sympathy.

[ethaniel]

Whats next? Fencing around every burn like last year's Temple? I'd hate to see that but would understand why.

Well, this was definitely a stupid decision from the org. The fence won't stop a person from jumping over it.

[FlyingMonkey]

Whats next? Fencing around every burn like last year's Temple? I'd hate to see that but would understand why.

Well, this was definitely a stupid decision from the org. The fence won't stop a person from jumping over it.

While I hate to see a fence around future burns I think they had to make a very visible attempt to prevent a repeat runner. Had they not & someone ran in to the Temple & think future burns would be in jeopardy.

I don't think it's too far of a stretch to imagine some lawyer claiming negligence (and winning) had they not done something so obvious.

Lets hope neither a fence or a need for one occurs in the future.

[lucky420]

Whats next? Fencing around every burn like last year's Temple? I'd hate to see that but would understand why.

Well, this was definitely a stupid decision from the org. The fence won't stop a person from jumping over it.

No, but it might slow down a runner, enabling the watchers a bit more time to stop them perhaps. I watch the burn from a distance. I’ve done the close up thing a couple of times...

[wraith]

We're not exactly an edgy experimental community anymore, are we?

We're about as regulated as a library in a backwater country with a giant list of banned books.

Is anyone interested in stepping up to challenge this bullshit?

What, THE FUCK, am I doing burning my entire life to the ground to bring Sextant to the Playa for, exactly?

I do somewhat agree that it's BS & I question their ability to permanently confiscate someone's personal property, but they could also eject violators from the event & remove the data from their memory cards.

Either way, if someone gets busted with an unregistered drone they are in my opinion an asshat that doesn't bother learning or abiding by the rules. I don't agree with all of them but unfortunately I think increased rules are inevitable when an event grows as much as Burning Man has. All it takes is an idiot with a LASER and next year there are no more unregulated lasers (one rule I do agree with). It's not the same as the wild west days and never will be again. Everyone needs to recognize & accept that.

It's their party, they make the rules, and they can kick your ass out if they want to.

But Yes, you are correct.

Given the existence of the Aiport, they're also likely in federal trouble for flying a drone in airport airspace without registration. The FAA considers that a big fucking deal.

[Ratty]

Lets just say you're on national forest land, (but you don't know it), and you're target shooting. Now some ranger with a gun comes along and writes you a ticket. And takes your guns.

After video court and 18 months probation you go and get your guns back.

Yes, it happened. It may have been a state park but in any case it wasn't posted. And the evidence locker isn't anywhere near the scene of the crime. Just sayin. I bet the drones will also be broken.

[Popeye]

Getting back to the drone/video/ picture taking.
If someone is is taking video, without asking, whether from a drone or on their phone and their drone or phone happens to get broken, I'd expect very little sympathy from Burners. Even in defaultia, just a case of "tough shit".