Be Wary Of Using Drones When in France

With the popularity and availability of drones seemingly increasing everyday, it’s not all that hard to order a drone, set it up, and send it to the skies. You can even buy drone kits on the internet if you’re interested enough. But just because you can do something, as we all know, doesn’t mean you should do something. If you do end up purchasing one for yourself, make sure you do yourself a favor and look up the laws for drone use for wherever you plan on using it.

Nans Thomas, an 18 year-old in France, is probably wishing he would’ve done just that right about now. He recently bought a drone online, installed a GoPro camera onto it, and launched it into the sky to capture some pictures and video of the city of Nancy. It turns out what he did was slightly illegal and he will be facing serious repercussions.

What’s The Big Deal, Anyway?

Apparently France has some pretty solid laws concerning the use of drones within city limits. According to the local law, drone users must receive permission and special training before they operate the drone in a public setting. Thomas failed to meet either of those requirements, and as a result is being prosecuted.

When he realized he messed up, he tried to make amends through the media, but it doesn’t seem to be doing a lot of good at the moment, as he is still being prosecuted. According to the prosecutor’s office, the law is in place to protect both the safety and privacy of French citizens. They are worried about the possibility of the drone crashing into an area where a lot of people are gathered, as well as private footage being recorded without any kind of permission or knowledge.

What do you think? Are they being too hard on the young man?

[Image via BayNews9]

SOURCE: http://www.technewsworld.com/story/80020.html