In article ,
RichA wrote:

Anyone owning an RC plane over 0.55 lb who did not register with the FAA
by yesterday, Feb. 19, 2016, is in violation. According to the FAA
website, they may assess civil penalties up to $27,500, and criminal
penalties are up to $250,000 and/or imprisonment for up to 3 years.
Judging from the number of drone sales last Christmas and the low number
of registrations, a few million of us committed felonies today.

most of the drones that were sold don't count, which means very few
have committed a crime, but even if they did, there's no way to find
them. nobody is going to chase them down.

http://www.faa.gov/uas/registration/faqs/

Note that the requirement is for RC pilots to register themselves, not
their individual aircraft. It also does not matter if you are actively
flying the plane. A dusty model on the shelf gets you the same violation.

nonsense.

Does anyone believe that Federal registration of model aircraft pilots
is any deterrent to a dedicated person with bad intent?

none whatsoever.