From SCDigest’s On-Target E-Magazine Rules will Open Up Some Commercial Drone Applications, but Packaged Deliveries Clearly would not be Allowed; Amazon to take Research to Other Countries? SCDigest Editorial Staff Amazon Prime Air, the on-line giant’s planned drone-based delivery service, may now have to be mothballed as proposed new Federal rules for commercial drones simply wouldn’t allow a product delivery model. That would be true for others that had ideas for such a service, such as a florist in Michigan and a micro-brewery in Wisconsin, as the rules really preclude drone deliveries for anything. SCDigest Says: At a conference in December, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos commented that when it comes to drone deliveries, "Technology is not going to be the long pole. The long pole is going to be regulatory." The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) released its proposed new rules over the weekend, which will now go through a long period of pubic commentary and debate before eventually being adopted as official rules. There is some chance of course the rules could be changed based on that process, and they are unlikely to go into effect until at least 2017. However, since in general the FAA has not allowed commercial drones to operate before these new rules, it’s not like companies such as Amazon can experiment with drones until then. Highlights of the rules include: • All drones have to be under 55 pounds • They can fly at a maximum speed of 100 mph and cannot be flown at an altitude of more than 500 feet above the ground.  With special Air Traffic Control clearance drones can be flown at altitudes between 500 feet and 18,000 feet. • The drone must remain in the line of sight of the operator at all times and has to be flown […]