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180000 dollars doesn't seem lenient to me. But really, I don't care if it's extremely lenient by some standard. I care what policy will best dissuade antisoci

180000 dollars doesn't seem lenient to me. But really, I don't care if it's extremely lenient by some standard. I care what policy will best dissuade antisocial behaviour with the minimal necessary fines imposed. Clearly, in your view, a written warning from the FCC is obviously serious business, and if you got one you'd interpret it as such and immediately desist from whatever incited it. As this guy and the people disagreeing with you show, this attitude isn't universal. Two warnings and then immediate financial execution just seems insane. If the the first and second letters had come with 1000 and 10000 dollar fines attached, almost everyone would have stopped by the first, let alone the second. There, no need to turn people into lifelong indentured servants. (Of course, I imagine there's an incentive to maximize the amount of fines you collect, so that explains why it wouldn't happen that way.)

hh3k0 6y ago
> 180,000 dollars doesn't seem lenient to me. It is, though. He repeatedly operated his drone recklessly to such a degree that shows nothing but blatant disregard for air traffic and human lives. Every penny of this fine is well-deserved.
- curtainsforus 6y ago
  At what point would the fine be too much for you? A million? Ten million? Should we just kill him and get it over with? Or does it just matter that an authority said that's the fine that's warranted? If the FCC says it's 180k, 180k was just. If the FCC says 10k, 10k was just. If the FCC says a million, a million was just.
  - hh3k0 6y ago
    I think it's a reasonable fine, considering that he has endangered a great number of human lives. It is clear that he failed to understand the gravity of his recklessness prior to this fine, I am sure he understands now. All things considered, his punishment was more or less a slap on the wrist: > Interfering with the operation of an aircraft is a crime punishable by a maximum of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. (Source: fbi.gov)
  - Sodman 6y ago
    I think the 180k fine is reasonable. As others have pointed out, the maximum fine (250k) is publicly available to look up, and was most likely also in the letters he received from the FCC. This didn't come out of nowhere. Think of it another way, imagine if the cops kept pulling you over for speeding. The first time you just got a warning, but they told you next time it'd be a $500 fine. Then you get caught again and they said "Ok we'll give you ONE more warning, but if you keep doing this, it's a $500 fine". Then the third time you get caught, when they give you a $350 fine you can't be all surprised pikachu at them. This guy knew the stakes (and was repeatedly reminded of them, by the enforcing body, who told him they would enforce the law if he didn't stop) and he kept on breaking the law anyway. They need to send a clear message that this is NOT acceptable behavior. This is closer to driving on the runway at an active airport than it is to an everyday traffic violation. In terms of the magnitude of the fine - he was putting people's lives in danger, which I think justifies the amount. You also have to keep in mind that drones are an expensive hobby, it's not uncommon for people to spend over $3k on drone equipment. Many popular drone pilots on instagram etc are incredibly wealthy and drive crazy sports cars and the like. They regularly fly $1000+ drones inches from water / through forests etc, and they can afford to lose a few of them. Put another way - if the normal response to breaking these laws was 2 warnings and a $10k fine over 2 years of publicly posting widely watched videos of yourself breaking the law, it wouldn't be enough to stop a lot of these people.

hh3k0 6y ago

> 180,000 dollars doesn't seem lenient to me. It is, though. He repeatedly operated his drone recklessly to such a degree that shows nothing but blatant disregard for air traffic and human lives. Every penny of this fine is well-deserved.

curtainsforus 6y ago
At what point would the fine be too much for you? A million? Ten million? Should we just kill him and get it over with? Or does it just matter that an authority said that's the fine that's warranted? If the FCC says it's 180k, 180k was just. If the FCC says 10k, 10k was just. If the FCC says a million, a million was just.
- hh3k0 6y ago
  I think it's a reasonable fine, considering that he has endangered a great number of human lives. It is clear that he failed to understand the gravity of his recklessness prior to this fine, I am sure he understands now. All things considered, his punishment was more or less a slap on the wrist: > Interfering with the operation of an aircraft is a crime punishable by a maximum of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. (Source: fbi.gov)
- Sodman 6y ago
  I think the 180k fine is reasonable. As others have pointed out, the maximum fine (250k) is publicly available to look up, and was most likely also in the letters he received from the FCC. This didn't come out of nowhere. Think of it another way, imagine if the cops kept pulling you over for speeding. The first time you just got a warning, but they told you next time it'd be a $500 fine. Then you get caught again and they said "Ok we'll give you ONE more warning, but if you keep doing this, it's a $500 fine". Then the third time you get caught, when they give you a $350 fine you can't be all surprised pikachu at them. This guy knew the stakes (and was repeatedly reminded of them, by the enforcing body, who told him they would enforce the law if he didn't stop) and he kept on breaking the law anyway. They need to send a clear message that this is NOT acceptable behavior. This is closer to driving on the runway at an active airport than it is to an everyday traffic violation. In terms of the magnitude of the fine - he was putting people's lives in danger, which I think justifies the amount. You also have to keep in mind that drones are an expensive hobby, it's not uncommon for people to spend over $3k on drone equipment. Many popular drone pilots on instagram etc are incredibly wealthy and drive crazy sports cars and the like. They regularly fly $1000+ drones inches from water / through forests etc, and they can afford to lose a few of them. Put another way - if the normal response to breaking these laws was 2 warnings and a $10k fine over 2 years of publicly posting widely watched videos of yourself breaking the law, it wouldn't be enough to stop a lot of these people.