The Federal Aviation Administration has a message for Amazon akin to an old “Seinfeld” TV episode: No drones for you.
The news was buried within an FAA document released to the Federal Register on Monday, the technology website Ars Technica reported Tuesday. To close up any possible loopholes, it even banned businesses from delivering packages to customers for free.
A footnote to the FAA decision, which referenced Amazon’s December proposal to operate drones for business purposes, read, “If an individual offers free shipping in association with a purchase or other offer, FAA would construe the shipping to be in furtherance of a business purpose, and thus, the operation would not fall within the statutory requirement of recreation or hobby purpose,” Ars Technica reported.
The FAA has said it would revisit the commercial application of small drones before the end of 2014, the website reported, with potential new rules in place by the end of 2015.
In March, a federal judge ruled the the FAA acted illegally by issuing drone regulations because it didn’t seek public input before doing so, but regulators insist that restrictions put in place in 2007 for commercial drones are still enforceable, Ars Technica reported.
• Douglas Ernst can be reached at dernst@washingtontimes.com.
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