An anonymous reader writes: The people and agencies pushing for strict drone regulation have no trouble coming up with a list of dangerous drone-related incidents. This includes not only the recent drone crashes that have been picked up by the media, but also reports of "close calls," where drones have allegedly approached full-size aircraft. But a new study by drone hobbyists finds that most of these "close calls" were anything but. Of 764 such incidents reported to the FAA, only 27 were actually described as "near misses" by the pilots involved. None of the incidents involved mid-air collisions, and some have involved military drones rather than hobbyist ones. The people who did the study suggest that we should find a better way of classifying these drone-related situations so legislators have accurate information from which to design regulations.

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Portugal captain overtakes Messi on Champions League scorers' list; Shaw injured in Man Utd's defeat to PSV Eindhoven.

vivaoporto writes: The Calyx Institute reports that an 11-year-old gag order has been lifted from the recipient of a National Security Letter served by the FBI in 2004. A federal court found there wasn't a "good reason" to keep the man, Nicholas Merrill, from talking about it, "nor has the Government provided the Court with some basis to assure itself that the link between disclosure and risk of harm is substantial." The judge who invalidated the gag order, Victor Marrero, is the same judge that struck down a portion of the revised USA PATRIOT Act in 2007, forcing investigators to go through the courts to obtain approval before ordering ISPs to give up information on customers, instead of just sending them a National Security Letter. After a 90-day waiting period (for the government to mull an appeal), Merrill will be able to say whatever he wants about the case, finally completing the partial victory he managed back in 2010.

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Speculation that Congo president could seek a third term sends protestors onto the streets.