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FBI Confiscates Six Drones Near Super Bowl Stadium (reuters.com) 146

Posted by EditorDavid from the zone-defense dept.
The FBI confiscated six drones in Atlanta for flying too close to the football stadium where the Super Bowl will be played Sunday, Reuters reports: Drone flight was prohibited on Saturday and from 10 a.m. until 5:30 p.m. EST on Sunday for one nautical mile (2 km) around the Mercedes-Benz Stadium and up to an altitude of 1,000 feet (305 meters), the Federal Aviation Administration said. The FAA will establish temporary flight restriction that prohibits drones within a 30-nautical-mile radius of the stadium and up to 17,999 feet in altitude from 5:30 p.m. to 11:59 p.m. EST on Sunday, the agency said. ..

Drones "are a big concern," said Nick Annan, Homeland Security Investigations special agent in charge. "There are a few other things that are in place to mitigate drones," he added without elaborating. Operators who send drones into restricted areas around the Mercedes-Benz Stadium could face more than $20,000 in civil penalties and criminal prosecution, according to the FAA.
Drone pilots are advised to check the FAA's B4UFly app to check when and where they can fly -- and the aviation agency has also produced a slick 20-second video "encouraging Super Bowl fans to bring their lucky jerseys, face paint and team spirit to the game -- but leave their drones at home -- because the stadium and the area around it is a No Drone Zone."
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FBI Confiscates Six Drones Near Super Bowl Stadium More

FBI Confiscates Six Drones Near Super Bowl Stadium

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  • Super Bowl? (Score:3, Funny)

    by 110010001000 ( 697113 ) on Saturday February 02, 2019 @10:40PM (#58062116) Homepage Journal
    What is this Super Bowl thing you are talking about? You mean the handegg game? You shouldn't call it football!

    -- Insufferable Eurosnob
    • Nobody cares. If you want to point out something silly why not focus on nautical miles?
      • You are saying that nautical miles and knots are silly? What about feet and yards?
        • Those are stupid American units unless you live in England where it's okay.

        • Re:Super Bowl? (Score:5, Interesting)

          by JustAnotherOldGuy ( 4145623 ) on Sunday February 03, 2019 @12:37AM (#58062534) Journal

          You are saying that nautical miles and knots are silly? What about feet and yards?

          As an American, I admit that I'm regularly embarrassed by the fact that on the entire planet, only America, Liberia, and Myanmar still use Imperial measurements. Some people I know refer to Imperial as "Barbarian Units".

          Feet, yards, inches, pints, quarts- it's impossible to deny that the whole damn thing is blitheringly idiotic.

          Now, I remember literally about 50 fuckin years ago hearing this excited buzz about how the US was going to switch to the metric system "in phases". Woo hoo!

          And of course, a bunch of good ol' American goobers and numbnuts instantly came out of the woodwork against it and screamed bloody murder as if it would lead to nuclear war.

          And this is weird, but some of the strongest, most strident opposition came from churches and clergy, the holy god-fearin' folk. WTF? Why?

          I never did figure that one out. I mean, what was it about the metric system was it that scared the bejeesus out of them? Of all things, the metric system? I repeat: WTF?

          Anyway, the furthest we've gotten is that we're now printing both measurement systems on the labels of most consumer goods (and that awe-inspiring milestone was reached like goddamn 30 years ago).

          So yeah at this pace my great grandchildren might grow up under the much more rational metric system but I myself wouldn't bet 5 bucks on it.

          • Re: (Score:3)

            by dk20 ( 914954 )

            As a Canadian who spent several years in the US i found the imperial system messed up, and the fact many americans are "proud" of it weird. It is almost like metric suffers from "not invented here" syndrome.

            Several Americans i worked with would ask me stupid questions about the metric system (how many metres in a kilometre?)
            What i found far more humourous was when i asked a simple question like "What is zero fahrenheit?" They were unable to answer. This is a system they were tought in school and seemed

            • "What is zero fahrenheit?"

              They were obviously too stupid to say "Fucking Cold"
              Which brings me to question, who were you hanging out with.

              • "What is zero fahrenheit?"

                They were obviously too stupid to say "Fucking Cold" Which brings me to question, who were you hanging out with.

                They were too fucking stupid to say "zero".

                • That was my first thought, but I didn't think it was funny enough to post.

                  • I also replied to the GP ...

                    What i found far more humorous was when i asked a simple question like "What is zero Fahrenheit?" They were unable to answer.

                    The answer is "zero" [0].
                    Now, did *you* actually mean the freezing point of water in Fahrenheit, which is 32 -- and 0 in Celsius?

                    Confusion can go both ways.

                    • Yes, I think this goes to show that people(Human beings to avoid confusion) get set in their ways, no matter where they are from on this planet. Were not all so much different after all.. But try telling that to some people and watch their heads explode.

            • Temperature is perhaps one scale where the selection of metric vs imperial is fairly arbitrary. In one scale, 0 and 100 represent - roughly - the freezing and boiling point of pure water. That is indeed something most people can relate to, even if they rarely encounter pure water. In the other, 0 and 100 roughly represent the freezing point of salt water and the human body temperature. Obviously only people from the coast will relate to the freezing point of salt water - but still, it's a fairly relatable s

              • Well, we could, in fact, measure temperature in joules, if we set Boltzmann's constant to 1. Of course, we would have to work with rather small prefixes, like yoctojoules. A better solution might be come up with a new temperature unit equal to exactly 10^-23 joules. This would "metrify" temperature units relative to the other units.

            • What i found far more humourous was when i asked a simple question like "What is zero fahrenheit?" They were unable to answer.

              The answer is "zero" [0].

              Now, did *you* actually mean the freezing point of water in Fahrenheit, which is 32 -- and 0 in Celsius?

              • Re: (Score:2)

                by dk20 ( 914954 )

                i mean what does "zero" indicate?

                In C, it is the temperature water freezes...

                • i mean what does "zero" indicate?
                  In C, it is the temperature water freezes...

                  Zero is a number [ look it up :-) ] what it indicates depends on the context. Your question, "What is zero Fahrenheit?" is ambiguous. The simple answer is obviously, "zero" (0F), unless what you actually meant to ask was, "What is the freezing point of water in Fahrenheit, which is 0 in Celsius?", then the answer is 32F. The person/people you asked should have pointed this out. You (and they) need to think more clearly about these things -- this is why the Mars Climate Orbiter [wikipedia.org] crashed or burned up -- th

                  • Re: (Score:2)

                    by dk20 ( 914954 )

                    If you dont get what i am asking, there is little point in being rude about it.

                    • If you dont get what i am asking, there is little point in being rude about it.

                      I posted another reply answering what I think you were asking: "What is the significance of zero/0 in Fahrenheit?" -- which you could have simply Googled.

                • i mean what does "zero" indicate?

                  In C, it is the temperature water freezes...

                  If what you mean is, what is the significance of zero/0 in Fahrenheit. The answer is (currently) nothing. The Wikipedia page describes how the guy came up with his scale:

                  In his initial scale (which is not the final Fahrenheit scale), the zero point was determined by placing the thermometer in a mixture "of ice, of water, and of ammonium chloride (salis Armoniaci)[6] or even of sea salt".

                  According to a story in Germany, Fahrenheit actually chose the lowest air temperature measured in his hometown Danzig in winter 1708/09 as 0 F, and only later had the need to be able to make this value reproducible using brine.

                  I basically looks like he created the scale first, then observed at which temperatures "water" froze and boiled.

                  • Re: (Score:2)

                    by dk20 ( 914954 )

                    And this pretty much sums up why the scale is weird and hard to use. Many people can relate to the temperature water freezes (0c) and the temp it boils at (100c).
                    you can use this to infer that 20C is probably cool, 40 is getting hot, etc.

                    It is hard to reference the winter in Danzig in 1708. I guess if you grew up with it, the references would be easier, and it would make sense that 68F would be cool.
                    But again, the entire imperial system is based on oddities (fractions of an inch, arbitrary units like feet

                    • And this pretty much sums up why the scale is weird and hard to use. Many people can relate to the temperature water freezes (0c) and the temp it boils at (100c).

                      Of course... Those temperatures are at sea-level (or, more precisely, 1 atmosphere). Water can be made to "boil" at room-temperature in a vacuum (or reduced pressure) and (theoretically) be made to "freeze" at room pressure with enough added pressure (more than 632.4 MPa) -- even staying frozen at 100 C @2.216 GPa ... see Phase Diagram of Water [wikimedia.org]

                      In this respect, most scale correlations are arbitrary, or only accurate under specific conditions.

                • In F, it's when brine freezes...

                  Not that it makes sense, but it's oddly similar.

                  And 212 is because he wanted each degree to be a 1/180th step between the melting and boiling temps.

          • Feet, yards, inches, pints, quarts- it's impossible to deny that the whole damn thing is blitheringly idiotic.

            If by "blitheringly idiotic" you mean "has worked just fine", then sure, lol

            Of course now more than ever it's so important for us to go through a huge transition. I mean it's not like we all carry instant pocket converters with us, for those times when we need to convert units, which is approximately never ...

            • If by "blitheringly idiotic" you mean "has worked just fine", then sure, lol

              Sure and leeches "worked just fine" until something better came a long.

              The fact that you mention carrying an "instant pocket converter" is proof right there that something better is needed (I'm sure the irony escapes you). With the metric system there's no need to have a converter, you can do it all in your head on-the-fly without thinking about it.

              Quick, how many inches in 2.65 miles? I'll wait while you get your instant pocket converter out and punch in the numbers.

              How many cm in 2.65 kilometers? Easy- 26

              • Like I said, approximately never. When would you ever need to know the answers to such questions in everyday life?

                • Like I said, approximately never. When would you ever need to know the answers to such questions in everyday life?

                  In my field I have to make calculations all the time. Some are large values and some are in the nanometer range. We mostly use the metric system because we're technical people in a technical field, but the odd Imperial measurement shows up from time to time (like gallons per minute, for example) and then we all just shake our heads.

                  Seriously, the whole Imperial system is a bad joke. How about you convert 2 fluid ounces to gallons? I'll wait while you get your calculator and conversion chart... *time passes*

                • Re: (Score:2)

                  by jwdb ( 526327 )

                  Cooking.

                  Recipe says I need 1.5 cups, but the can says it's 14.7 oz. Quick, is one can enough or do I need to buy two? What if the recipe called for 3 tbsp and the jar is 4 oz? Generate examples for other commonly-used units as necessary.

      • Uh...because nautical miles aren't silly?

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by AHuxley ( 892839 )
        What can people buy for use at the allowed 18000 feet?

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by tlhIngan ( 30335 )

        Nobody cares. If you want to point out something silly why not focus on nautical miles?

        Nautical miles make sense. Statute miles do not.

        1 nautical mile = 1 minute of latitude. Granted, degrees and minutes of latitude aren't nice units, but when you're in an airplane or boat, they're extremely useful. And when plotting the distance between two points, capturing the length and bringing it to the latitude scale on the chart is far easier than using a scale.

    • -- Insufferable Eurosnob

      Shouldn't you be speaking French or something? True, in Spanish they call it futbol but they also say "pie" instead of foot, so I don't know what you're complaining about. Wait until you realize they call it "bano" instead of bathroom.

    • Re: (Score:2, Funny)

      by Brett Buck ( 811747 )

      Yes, it's all the rage among the neckbeard crowd to be enamored of all things European. The best one-size-too-small Fedoras come from there, you know. Of course, they will never go there - United charges them for two seats due to their, uh, "glandular condition". Thus saving some trapped normal from a 7-hour discussion of how Star Wars technology would curbstomp the Federation.

      Of course, they prefer "futbol" AKA "kicking the ball and pretending to be hurt" over real football - despite never having played ei

      • Re:Super Bowl? (Score:4, Interesting)

        by goose-incarnated ( 1145029 ) on Sunday February 03, 2019 @09:22AM (#58063572) Journal

        Of course, they prefer "futbol" AKA "kicking the ball and pretending to be hurt" over real football - despite never having played either.

        American football is a girls game. I played Rugby once upon a time. No protective gear, no 20m breaks every 10m of play.

        This may come as a shock to you, but over the pond American football and baseball (rounders) are girls games.

        • I actually don't care even a little bit what happens "over the pond". And calling it a "girls game" as an insult is particularly ridiculous coming from a soccer fan. Here, soccer is a game for 8-year-olds and their moms, until they get old enough to play a real sport.

          Your premise about rugby would make more sense if playing football didn't result in severe long-term head trauma and CTE - even with the protective gear. If you played rugby with the typical fast, mobile, 300-lb NFL linemen, people would *die*.

          • I actually don't care even a little bit what happens "over the pond". And calling it a "girls game" as an insult is particularly ridiculous coming from a soccer fan.

            What makes you think I'm a soccer fan? I'm no fan of games in general, not just handegg and football. Just because I used to play rugyby doesn't mean I follow it at all.

            Here, soccer is a game for 8-year-olds and their moms, until they get old enough to play a real sport.

            Get over yourself - they're all just games. Unless by "real sport" you mean "games were we pwotect our widdle pwayers" as opposed to full contact rugby. There's no practical difference between wasting time watching handegg games and wasting time watching starcraft games.

          • If you played rugby with the typical fast, mobile, 300-lb NFL linemen, people would *die*.

            Perhaps. But it's a one platoon game and runs continuously unless there's a score or an infringement. So you might be surprised about who gets carted off to the glue factory, Mr Internet Tough-Guy.

    • "Soccer" isn't an American word, it came from England.

  • Thank God (Score:5, Funny)

    by Patent Lover ( 779809 ) on Saturday February 02, 2019 @10:43PM (#58062134)

    Thank God the U.S. military and FBI are protecting the most important institution this country has.

    • Re:Thank God (Score:4, Interesting)

      by Noishkel ( 3464121 ) on Saturday February 02, 2019 @11:01PM (#58062200)
      Yeah, no kidding. And look at the level of control the propose to exert. They want to lock down 30 nautical miles around a single commercial event. And they're going to just seize property without charge within that area for an extended period. And what are they looking to find? Are they expect a fleet of Slaughterbots [youtube.com] to show up?

    • Thank God the U.S. military and FBI are protecting the most important institution this country has.

      FTFS:

      encouraging Super Bowl fans to bring their lucky jerseys, face paint and team spirit to the game

      I think important American institutions have had enough face paint for this weekend already.

      Back on topic, the sheer size of the audience of the Super Bowl makes it an excellent target for terrorism or other publicity stunts. A terrorist attack on a US army base is Afghanistan will pass by relatively unnoticed. If Janet Jackson flashes a nipple, everyone will be talking about it.

      If anything happens, the FBI will take a lot of criticism flak for it. That's why they're being extreme here.

  • WTF FAA (Score:5, Informative)

    by AndyKron ( 937105 ) on Saturday February 02, 2019 @11:07PM (#58062230)
    A 30 mile radius? A little overkill I think.

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by Anonymous Coward

      How does someone flying a drone in a park way out in the suburbs effect a football game 30 miles away?

    • A 30 mile radius? A little overkill I think.

      Pretty soon it'll be 300. You know, for security.

      • Re: (Score:3)

        by djinn6 ( 1868030 )

        Maybe they'll increase it to 3000 nm and start telling people "why are you flying drones instead of watching football?"

    • Well... god forbid anyone take an unauthorized picture of Atlanta((TM)allrightsreserved)) that might include a glimpse of Mercedes-Benz Stadium((TM)allrightsreserved)), or anything else football((TM)allrightsreserved)) or Superbowl((TM)allrightsreserved)) related. The NFL((TM)allrightsreserved)) might not realize some tiny shred of revenue from its exclusive rights to all structures, skylines, logos, colors, images, players, teams, personas, activities, foods, and apparel. And we can't have that, now can

    • Yes. I think the restriction for airports is 5 miles. But that's only protecting lives, not copyright.
  • What's the difference, really? And if the tether makes a difference, then if one is flying only on their own property, is that still prohibited?
  • People will be operating drones in that airspace at that time, not because they want
    to break the law, but because they have no idea what a NOTAM or TFR is.
    Commercial and/or licensed operators will hopefully be cluefull of their situation.

  • According to the FAA's own UAS guidelines:

    Flying drones in and around stadiums is prohibited starting one hour before and ending one hour after the scheduled time of any of the following events:

    Major League Baseball
    National Football League
    NCAA Division One Football
    NASCAR Sprint Cup, Indy Car, and Champ Series races

    Specifically, UAS operations are prohibited within a radius of three nautical miles of the stadium or venue.

    source [faa.gov]

    The part the FAA left out is that this is all subject to change, depending on how much security theater they deem is necessary for a specific sportsball event. Granted, drone pilots are supposed to check NOTAMs before flying, but it's a little unreasonable to expect any restrictions to be active days before an event.

  • Motivations (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward

    I suspect part of the motivating concern is safety (prevention of delivery of bomb), but what they probably won't admit is that they're also *very* concerned about controlling the ability to televise the event exclusively.

  • A pilot should always read their respective NOTAMS [faa.gov], because after the Jack Stone event there is nothing better to do for FBI folks.
  • As demonstrated by simulated attacks on U.S. carrier fleets, swarm warfare is extremely effective against centralized, non swarm warfare. This is similar to the introduction of Blitzkrieg versus trench warfare.

    The next war will include now-impossible sounding numbers of algorithm driven small vehicles.

    Events such as the Super Bowl are particularly vulnerable, and despite the privacy and liberty intrusion, I lean to the FBI stance, in this instance.
    I mean, anybody got a better idea? I don't at this time

  • Rams FTW, down with the Puncturers!

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