Hi EarthPorn community! Wow there are so many of us now. It's been a while since I rapped at ya, so I wanted to share some of our thoughts over whats been happening on the mod end lately.As I'm sure you are aware, drone photography is on the rise. Every day more and more drone shots are being taken and submitted to this sub. Some of them are spectacular! Unfortunately some of them are illegal. Thankfully, as usual the community is here to make things right. We receive many reports each day, for a variety of reasons, but lately we have been very fortunate that some very savvy users have taken time to report illegal drone photography.My feeling is that EarthPorn should not be a platform to showcase photography that contravenes local law regarding aerial photography. I don't pilot a drone myself but I have certainly thought about it many times. In Canada where I live drone flying is severely restricted, and the penalties for breaking the rules can be high including fines and jail time. It's the responsibility of the pilot before they start flying know and follow local flying regulations. There are many sites like AirMap which (while sometimes incomplete) will provide the info pilots can use to determine if they are in accord with the law.Why should we care whether photographers want to fly in restricted areas? Safety is the main one. We have all seen failarmy videos of new drone pilots crashing on takeoff and even experienced pilots running into themselves, buildings, and vehicles. Drone piloting takes skill and practice, and mistakes can be made even with one-touch takeoff and landing drones. In addition, drones can be disturbing to other park users. On a recent hike on Kauai, I emerged from the jungle to an amazing vista on the Na Pali coast after a tough hike to find a drone pilot documenting the landscape. He flew for 15 minutes then landed, chucked a new battery in, then took off and filmed again for another 20 min. It was impossible to just sit and enjoy the scenery without hearing the constant bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz overhead. Tough shit for me right? The park was closed to drones but I guess he felt like it was okay because of the constant commercial helicopter flights in the area. So while I think drones are cool technology and would think of buying one myself, I was left with a bad taste in my mouth over the selfish actions of that pilot.Sorry for the boring story but I hoped it would illustrate an encounter with a drone for those who haven't experienced it yet. The goal of this message is to ask for your feedback about making a rule regarding illegal drone photography. Such a rule would certainly need the community's help for it's enforcement. The idea would be that we would continue to operate as usual, however when a drone photo is posted, it would be up to the submitter to prove that it was taken legally. They could do that by indicating where it was taken and what the local drone regulations are, in the submission comments. If they can't prove it, or fail to prove it to a degree where its clear they are telling the truth, the submission would be removed. Other users would have the opportunity to present evidence in the comments of whether or not it was a legal drone photo.What are your thoughts on this item? I would love to hear why you do or do not support such a rule.In addition, feel free to add your comments on other existing EarthPorn policies. Do you like the current requirements we have for submitters? Do you feel that some require review or modification? Please make comments in this thread. If you have a thought about a new direction please flesh it out to the best of your ability.TL;DR: Do you think we should ban illegal drone photography from being posted here? Yes or no.Thanks for your time and have a great day. via /r/EarthPorn https://ift.tt/2zkPkUp
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