Big and Small, Near and Far… The Drones Are Coming

Near and far… the proliferation of drones is coming.

With the Federal Aviation Administration facing pressure from corporate interests and drone manufacturers to make room in the skies over the United States, the push for industry-friendly regulations is now in full gear.

Meanwhile, foreign governments are rapidly developing their own technology to make sure the era of the unmanned aircraft—so far dominated by the U.S. military—does not leave them stranded on the ground, both literally and strategically.

Though critics of the U.S. government’s use of drones on foreign battlefields (not to mention over foreign nations with whom the U.S. is not at war) have focused on human rights violations and international law, the concern over domestic drones has been more intent on addressing privacy issues and the threat that so-called “full spectrum surveillance” could ultimately have on society. But with the FAA now considering new rules that would regulate the use of recreational and commercial drones, the corporate lobbyists are in full swing to make sure those rules conform to their vision of new profit streams.

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As Bloomberg reports, some of the nation’s largest companies—including Amazon, American International Group Inc., Chevron Corp. and BNSF Railway Co.—have no intention of letting the opportunity pass them by:

At the same time, Business Insider, journalist Jeremy Bender describes how other industrial powers—namely China, Russia and other military powerhouses—are hard at work developing their own technology to compete with the U.S.: