Drone Registrations Should Be 'Simple, Easy and Free,' CTA Says

The Consumer Technology Association worries that the Federal Aviation Administration will defy its own task force recommendation and impose a registration fee for small drones when the agency writes its final rules, Doug Johnson, vice president-technology policy, said in a statement. “To be successful, an efficient drone registration system with widespread compliance must be simple, easy and free.” Even a small fee would amount to a “drone tax,” and would “undermine” the FAA’s goal of widespread compliance, Shapiro said Thursday. “Simplicity” in drone registrations was the hallmark of recommendations in the Nov. 21 report of the task force, with two dozen members from CTA and aviation trade groups, and powerhouse names like Amazon, Best Buy, Google, GoPro and Walmart. “To encourage a high level of compliance with the registration requirement,” the task force believes the FAA “should not impose a registration fee,” and if it needs to do so for “legal reasons,” the charge should be a “de minimis fee” of 1/10th of one cent, the report said. FAA representatives didn’t comment Friday.