United States will require drones to be registered

According to a report from NBC News, the United States is ready to announce new requirements for consumers purchasing drones, the most notable of which is that you’ll need to register it with the department of transportation.

The Obama administration, faced with a surge in unauthorised drone flights, will announce a new initiative on Monday aimed at registering the owners of unmanned aerial systems (UAS), people familiar with the matter said on Friday.

If you unpack a shiny new drone on Christmas morning, it’s possible you’ll have to get Uncle Sam’s permission before you can fly it.

The department aims to convene a task force next week to figure out the specifics of the policy, including which drones will be included, how users will register the devices, and whether the policy will apply to devices that have already been sold, the people said. The FAA has reported more than 650 unauthorized drone sightings so far this year, as of August.

Officials say efforts to track down the owners of rogue drones have been frustrated in part by a 2012 congressional decision to bar the FAA from regulating recreational drones.

A handful of incidences have occurred in which drones have either gotten too close to commercial jets or hindered firefighting operations.

We’ve been waiting forever for the FAA to finally come up with a few sort of rules around public drone use in the US. Encounters with drones can also cause pilots to be distracted from other critical tasks.