Raphael Pirker, a Swiss drone operator, was fined $10,000 by the FAA for operating a drone recklessly while filming a commercial for the University of Virginia. As reported by Politico, a federal judge has just ruled against the FAA. The decision says, "the policy notices the FAA issued as a basis for the ban weren’t enforceable because they hadn’t been written as part of a formal rulemaking process."

Small drones have a wide variety of valuable commercial applications - everything from monitoring crops, delivering small packages, and aerial videography. Filmmakers and others have increasingly ignored the FAA’s ban. The agency has pledged to propose a formal rule for small drones by 2015.