yes, I have the original spark. the follow-me works surprisingly well, but not to the point where I would be comfortable not paying close attention to the drone

yes, I have the original spark. the follow-me works surprisingly well, but not to the point where I would be comfortable not paying close attention to the drone. IANAL either, but the rules are quite clear that the operator must maintain line-of-sight at all times. I don't think this is satisfied by having the drone in your peripheral vision (or behind you) while you pay attention to something else. lots of consumer drones have capabilities that could not be legally used by a hobbyist in most jurisdictions. even a spark can be controlled over greater distances than you could conceivably maintain LOS over. to be clear, I mean legal for the operator. I don't think it is (yet) illegal to sell drones that hobbyists can do illegal things with. I suspect that a lot of the demand for hobbyist-level drones comes from people who don't intend to follow the rules. I've stopped flying mine because I can't think of anything fun to do that doesn't break the rules.