Drones – RI Future

March 1, 2016March 1, 2016

Rep Ucci needs to disclose financial ties to Raytheon ahead of drone bill considerations

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The House Commission on Drones has shown itself, over the course of its three meetings, to be very pro-drone. The concerns of those who seek to profit from drones have been given every consideration, the concerns of privacy advocates, not so much. As bad as this is, Rep Stephen Ucci used to be a lawyer working for Raytheon, one of the biggest drone manufacturers in the world, and he has declined to reveal what, if any, financial ties he still has to the company.

“Raytheon has been aggressively moving into new markets,” says a typical stock investment website, “One area is drones, which are increasingly used for both military and civilian purposes. Raytheon is already the leader in the development and manufacture of drone sensors. As world demand for drones takes off, Raytheon will reap the spoils.”

Raytheon doesn’t just make drones, it makes the sensors that drones need to operate. Theoretically, a little bit of Raytheon could end up in every drone ever sold in the not too distant future. “Raytheon’s sensors are prized by the military for their unique ability to penetrate cloud cover. Raytheon continually develops lighter, high-reliability sensors—exactly what the military covets most,” wrote Investing Daily Managing Director John Persinos in 2013.

As drones become pervasive, cities and states are moving to enact meaningful regulations to restrict their use over issues of safety and privacy. In Rhode Island, State Rep. Stephen R. Ucci (D-42 Johnston/Cranston) helped to sponsor the legislation that created “The Special Legislative Commission to Study and Review Regulation of Drones and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles” and then got himself appointed to head up the committee. The 11-member House panel, which just finished hearing public testimony on drones for the first time last Thursday, has been tasked (by its organizers) to study and make recommendations about potential laws, rules and regulations that Rhode Island should adopt concerning the use of unmanned aerial vehicles.

Depending on the kinds of laws, rules and regulations that Rhode Island adopts, Raytheon and other drone manufacturers will either be helped or hindered in their efforts to market commercial and recreational drones in our state. This could mean more or less money for Raytheon and have real financial implications for anyone who maybe invested in the company, like Rep. Stephen Ucci.

Until very recently, Ucci was the senior counsel for the defense contractor Raytheon and general counsel for their Integrated Defense Seapower unit. Ucci’s job at Raytheon wasn’t just legal work. Speaking to the Providence Business News, Ucci said, “I review things from a legal perspective but also from a business perspective. Not a day goes by that I don’t learn something new.”

While at Raytheon, Ucci became the only attorney in the company’s history to receive the Raytheon Business Development Award. “Mr. Ucci has demonstrated ambition and achievement in the best sense. Professionally, he is the first Raytheon attorney to earn a Raytheon Business Development Award, meaning that he goes beyond providing legal advice to helping the company grow,” said Mark Murphy, editor of Providence Business News.

About two years ago Ucci moved from Raytheon to Locke Lord LLC, a law firm in downtown Providence. It is unknown if Locke Lord LLC has business ties to Raytheon, but depending on his financial ties to Raytheon, Ucci’s involvement in drone legislation potentially opens the door to allegations of conflict of interest. This is especially relevant since later today the House Corporations committee will be hearing testimony on the very first bill that has come out of the Drone Commission, H7511, which will ban cities and towns in Rhode Island from enacting any rules, regulations or laws regarding the operation of drones, if passed.

The bill, introduced by Ucci and cosponsored by virtually every legislator on the House Drone Commission, does nothing to answer the concerns of privacy advocates who testified on Thursday. This is a pro drone bill. Under this bill, instead of having to deal with the special concerns of individual town and city councils, drone advocates now only have to convince the reflexively pro-business General Assembly to pass laws in their favor. As demonstrated by the creation, makeup and behavior of the Drone Commission, this is easy to accomplish.

An email to Raytheon, the House of Reps and Ucci asking for clarification regarding Ucci’s present financial and political ties to Raytheon has gone unanswered as of this writing.

Until the public receives answers about this possible conflict of interest, the General Assembly should not be passing any pro-business drone bills that come out of this suspect commission.

September 12, 2015September 12, 2015

Drone store opens amid calls for privacy and safety legislation

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Cloud City Drones, “Rhode Island’s first and only drone shop,” which has been open now for a few weeks, had its grand opening Saturday morning, and was met by privacy advocates from the Rhode Island Coalition to Defend Human and Civil Rights (RICDHCR) calling “for limits on both governmental and non-governmental surveillance to preserve Rhode Islanders’ quality of life.”

Randall Rose, member of RICDHCR, said in a press release that, “Although drones do have legitimate and important uses, Rhode Islanders’ quality of life will suffer if inadequately regulated drones become widespread. Except in an emergency, drones should not be allowed to collect personally identifiable or re-identifiable information on residents without their consent. Drone manufacturers and makers of drone-related software should not be allowed to use data collected by consumer and law-enforcement drones, and should not transfer that information without the consent of the private individuals involved. Drones should be safe, unarmed, and not able to do physical damage. Law enforcement should acquire drones only after a full public hearing, and should use drones only subject to a court order.”

Cloud City Drones proprietor Chris Williams focused on the safety features of the drones he carries, which makes them unfit for spying.

A private detective came in looking for a drone for his business, said Williams, and he wanted to use the drone to peer over fences. “Spying means stealth,” said Williams, “and these things are not stealthy. It’ll sound like a weed whacker in your backyard. That’s number one. Number two, there’s flashing lights blinking all over the place.” A third reason is that you get about 20 minutes of flight time on a battery charge. “It’s not a good device for spying. You’d do way better using a telefocal lens or a telescope.”

Williams thinks drones will be primarily used by hobbyists, law enforcement, search and rescue, prison security and home inspection. In reality, the ideas for drones are just beginning, and he would like to see the market develop and legislation crafted carefully so as to not impact potential sales.

“We focus on drones that have all the safety features built into them.” said Williams, “For example, if you say, Chris, I’ll give you a million dollars right now I wouldn’t be able to fly this drone this close to an airport. There are ‘no-fly zones’ built into drone’s systems. Outside the five mile limit, drones can fly higher. As soon as a new no fly zone comes out, it’s instantly updated. So when Washington DC said no drone flying around the White house, that update was instant. Nobody can fly over it.”

Cloud City Drones is on Jefferson Boulevard in Warwick, not far from the airport.

Randall Rose was clear that the RICDHCR action was not, “primarily aimed at criticizing this particular store, which has already drawn some controversy. Instead, the purpose of the event is to draw attention to the failure of Rhode Island’s policymakers to pass much-needed legislation that will adequately regulate drones and other forms of surveillance. Privacy advocates are well aware of the likelihood that some of the drones on the market will be used in harmful ways.”

So far, despite some interest on the part of the RI General Assembly, there has been no legislative action taken on limiting the use of drones or addressing privacy concerns.

January 25, 2015January 26, 2015

Does Langevin represent District 2 or drone designers?

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Until this new Congress, Rhode Island’s District 2 Congressman Jim Langevin served on the House Intelligence Committee, tasked with, among other duties, overseeing the US drone program. During his tenure on House Intelligence, Langevin also accepted tens of thousands of dollars from corporations that manufacture drones.

In fact, drone manufacturers are among Langevin’s most generous supporters, according to Open Secrets. The top 5 donors to Langevin’s 2014 campaign committee were:

1. General Dynamics ($32,050)
2. Democratic Party of RI ($19,800)
3. Northup Grumman ($15,200)
4. Raytheon Co. ($13,250)
5. Sheet Metal Workers Union ($12,500)

General Dynamics, Northup Grumman and Raytheon all manufacture drones. This is not the first time I’ve brought up the issue.

“It is not surprising that Congressman Langevin’s work in Congress is of relevance to the defense industry,” said Meg Geoghegan, Langevin’s spokesperson. “General Dynamics, Northrop Grumman and Raytheon are key players in our local economy, with General Dynamics Electric Boat alone planning to add 3,000 more jobs at Quonset Point by 2020. In fact, the Rhode Island defense sector supports more than 32,000 jobs overall. ”

The issue isn’t the defense industry. The issue is a Congressman taking money from the industry he was exercising oversight upon. Is that how the game is often played in Washington? Of course. Does it make it right? No. Especially when lives are involved.

In the fall 2014 election, Langevin spent $782,691 against first time GOP candidate and contractor Rhue Rheis, who spent a mere $13,548, according to Open Secrets. Did the incumbent really need the extra money from defense contractors to win against a first time Republican candidate who served in no previous elected office and didn’t even raise even $50,000?

When on the House Intelligence Committee, Langevin voted against “an amendment to require that U.S. agencies involved in drone wars produce annual reports in which they account for all deaths in U.S. drone strikes overseas and identify the civilians and alleged combatants killed. The amendment already passed the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence” in 2013.

Geoghegan, Langevin’s spokesperson, said, “Campaign donations are accepted in good faith with no strings attached, and do not influence Congressman Langevin’s policy work or voting record. He remains a strong advocate for campaign finance reform and transparency, and he is beholden only to the people of Rhode Island.”

In response to the December 2014 Senate Intelligence Committee report which revealed heinous instances of torture, Langevin stood on the side of decency, arguing, “Human rights must be preserved in times of peace and war, and I sincerely hope we can learn from this dark moment in our history.”

But in response to the use of drones, Langevin’s record is more evasive. Drones are used as deadly weapons to track and kill suspected terrorists. At times civilians have been killed. Langevin served on the committee reviewing the drone program, while also receiving money from drone manufacturers.

With the new Congress, Langevin no longer serves on the House Intelligence Committee. To show he is “beholden only to the people of Rhode Island,” Langevin should return donations from the industries he exercised oversight- or give the equivalent amount to charity. His action can serve as an example to incoming members on the House Intelligence Committee.

August 30, 2014August 30, 2014

Solidarity, from Ferguson to Palestine

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Since no one interested in social, economic or environmental justice was getting anywhere near the mansion in Newport where President Obama is attending a $32,000 a plate political fundraiser, (in which the 1% will purchase access to the government the rest of us will never know) anti-war activists gathered in Providence, at Burnside Park, to call some small measure of attention to issues that matter.

The response to Obama took place after the Gazan Solidarity Rally, which has been running weekly since Israel’s most recent military siege. As one peace event ended the next seamlessly began. In all about thirty people attended the two events.

The protesters spoke to passersby, handing out flyers that elucidated the similarities between the situation in Gaza under Israeli occupation and conditions in Ferguson, MS in the wake of the shooting death of Mike Brown, an unarmed black man. The list of demands made by the Providence protesters included stopping the war on Gaza, stopping police brutality in communities of color, ending all U.S. aid to Israel, ending U.S. military incursions in the Middle East, ending NSA spying on private citizens, and ending the militarization of the police.

“One reason for our choice of locale,” said Paul Hubbard, spokesperson for the Rhode Island Antiwar Committee, “is that President Obama will be fund-raising among the 1% at a secluded, ocean-front mansion in Newport. The other 99% of his constituents will probably be unable to catch even a glimpse of him, due to the blocked roads and high security surrounding his brief visit. This situation strikingly symbolizes the truth about which groups the U.S. government is really serving.”

Rallies like this seem small and inconsequential when stacked up against $32,000 fund raisers and the corporatization of the military and the militarization of the police, but such rallies offer up another way of thinking about the world and another way of being.

What is being offered is peace, and the courage to embrace it.

Poet and activist Jared Paul read his six-part, “Apartheid Then, Apartheid Now” which you can watch on video below: