California Gov. Jerry Brown vetoed a bill this week that would have required anyone flying a drone below 350 feet in his state to gain expressed permission from the property owner down below.
The bill would have effectively grounded companies in that state developing ambitious drone programs, from Google to Amazon. The veto will allow the drone industry to press on, but it highlights the delicate balance companies must strike between pushing the limits on a new technology and respecting privacy.
“Drone technology certainly raises novel issues that merit careful examination,” Brown wrote in his veto letter to California lawmakers. “This bill, however, while well-intentioned, could expose the occasional hobbyist and the FAA-approved commercial user alike to burdensome litigation and new causes of action.”
“Before we got down that path,” he added, “let’s look at this more carefully.”
The legislation, which passed the California Assembly and Senate with widespread approval, was pitched as a way to protect privacy of those afraid of waking up one day to a camera-wielding drone buzzing overhead.
Advocacy groups from the technology industry fought back, highlighting the potential economic impact the burgeoning drone industry could have on the state of California and just how limiting the law would have been.
Amazon, for example, has said it could be ready to rollout 30-minute drone deliveries within the next year or so. But that would be virtually impossible to pull off if the company had to get permission from every property owner between its warehouses and customers’ doorsteps.
This particular legal battle may have been won by the tech industry, but it certainly won’t be the last. As CNBC notes, National Conference of State Legislatures says 46 states have considered more than 150 drone bill this year alone.
