The Drone Industrialists: 'Don't Watch Us, We'll Watch You'

[marmar]

Published on Saturday, August 17, 2013 by Common Dreams
The Drone Industrialists: 'Don't Watch Us, We'll Watch You'

by Thomas Hedges


The Wifi password at this year’s conference on Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) was “DONTSAYDRONES.” It was printed and posted up in the pressroom of the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C., warning reporters not to unleash the offensive word while doing an interview. At one of the world’s biggest UAS conventions, drones did not exist.

Exhibitors instead flaunted their products like toys. Visitors demoed UAS in air, ground, and water spaces within the exhibit hall, which extended the length of a couple of football fields. There were onscreen displays, where attendees could fly virtual drones using a video game controller. Upstairs there were presentations on how UAS might be used to fight forest fires or quickly transport organs to hospitals on a moment’s notice.

The Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI), which organized this week’s event and is the industry’s main lobbying group, has done a good job of sanitizing the business they’re in. There was no talk of drone strikes in Yemen, Pakistan, and Afghanistan or of Customs Border Patrol, Homeland Security and the FBI using drones at home. There were no booths dedicated to the public’s interest, as a way of addressing the legal framework for the growing industry. The only government agency present was the FAA, who’s jurisdiction is restricted to regulating air traffic – they’re not concerned with secrecy, privacy, and whether or not domestic law enforcement agencies, for example, can militarize their drones.

The three-day show ignored this already existing drone industry, which specializes in death. There was little said about the Pentagon’s 7,000 aerial drones, which collectively have killed, and the numbers are shaky because of secrecy, around 3,000 people without due process. Many activists, including Code Pink, which protested outside the convention Tuesday, are worried about this precedent — the lack of regulation surrounding the use of drones abroad could be a harbinger of their use at home. .........................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.commondreams.org/view/2013/08/17-2

[orpupilofnature57]

1. Jan 27 1961 - Aug 17 2013 he was talking about today .

[blkmusclmachine]

2. Death From Above.

Coming to your neighborhood by 2020.