A really well balanced, correct and insightful article on ABC News Australia, very much in contrast with what is coming out of the mainstream press in the USA.
Mark Corcoran http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-02-21/drone-journalism-takes-off/3840616
Drones play an increasing and controversial role in modern warfare. From Afghanistan and Pakistan to Iran and Yemen, they have become a ubiquitous symbol of Washington’s war on terrorism.
Critics point to the mounting drone-induced death toll as evidence that machines, no matter how sophisticated, cannot discriminate between combatants and innocent bystanders.
Now drones are starting to fly into a more peaceful, yet equally controversial role in the media. Rapid technological advances in low-cost aerial platforms herald the age of drone journalism.
But it will not be all smooth flying: this new media tool can expect to be buffeted by the issues of safety, ethics and legality.
I have a tough time with this. As a professional computer geek (I’m a network admin) and electronics/RC hobbyist, I am drawn to the tech side of UAS. I can also see a myriad of uses for UAS in a number of humanitarian and commercial roles (search and rescue, reconnaissance and aid in disaster areas, pipeline patrols, fish and wildlife surveys…you get the picture).
However, I am also aware of the huge, huge privacy and ethical issues raised by low-cost drones. They are already cheap enough that a middle-class hobbyist can experiment with semi-autonomous vehicles, and the electronic sensors available now would have given Orwell cold sweats if he could only have imagined them. Although I “have nothing to hide,” I am not sure I am all that jazzed about police forces obtaining drones. Considering how our government has shrugged its collective shoulders at reports of, ahem, “collateral damage” in the war against terror overseas, I am not optimistic that having drones in the hands of LEO’s across the country is going to usher in a golden age of peace and tranquility. Much more likely, I suspect, that we will one day wake up wondering, in the words of the Talking Heads, “How did we get here?”
Very fair comments Mike, may you live in interesting times as those shortly in charge of everything say.