Drones have been employed for multiple uses, such as for military, surveillance, recreational, scientific, and research purposes. Their presence inside civil areas has necessitated the need to regulate their use. Towards this direction, many countries worldwide have issued national legislations, which vary on vehicle categorization according to the size, weight, flight altitude, purpose of use, and restrictions. In this study, we pursued the first comparative analysis of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries’ national legislations, in order to explore the similarities and differences in drone use and recommend improvements and homogenization. Some of the examined countries issued legislation during recent years of drone application, while others amended their existing legislative framework in order to catch up with drone technology evolution. Although from the 35 OECD countries 22 belong to the European Union, we observed much diversity among national legal frameworks. The intensive use of drones has led to severe ethical dilemmas that policy makers will need to address in the near future. We conclude with a proposal regarding the basic legislation for different uses according to the criteria that have been developed so far, followed by limitations and restrictions.
As illegal e-waste trade has been significantly growing over the course of the last few years, the consequences on human health and the environment demand immediate action on the part of the global community. Though it is argued that e-waste flows from developed to developing countries, this subject seems to be more complex than that, with a variety of studies suggesting that income per capita is not the only factor affecting the choice of regions that e-waste is illegally shipped to. How is a country’s economic and social development associated with illegal e-waste trade? Is legislation an important factor? This paper aims at quantifying macroeconomic (per capita income and openness of economy) and social (human development and social progress) aspects, based on qualitative data on illegal e-waste trade routes, by examining the percentage differences in scorings in selected indicators for all known and suspected routes. The results show that illegal e-waste trade occurs from economically and socially developed regions to countries with significantly lower levels of overall development, with few exceptions, which could be attributed to the fact that several countries have loose regulations on e-waste trade, thus deeming them attractive for potential illegal activities.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.