In seemingly the first case of its kind, the US Justice Department has charged a Chinese national with using a drone to photograph a Virginia shipyard where the US Navy was assembling nuclear submarines.
“This is definitely not something that the law has addressed to any significant degree,” [Emily Berman](https://www.law.uh.edu/faculty/main.asp?PID=5005), a law professor at the University of Houston who specializes in national security, tells WIRED. “There’s definitely no reported cases.”
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In seemingly the first case of its kind, the US Justice Department has charged a Chinese national with using a drone to photograph a Virginia shipyard where the US Navy was assembling nuclear submarines.
The case is such a rarity that it appears to be the first known prosecution under [a World War II–era law](https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title18-section796&num=0&edition=prelim) that bans photographing vital military installations using aircraft, showing how new technologies are leading to fresh national security and First Amendment issues.
“This is definitely not something that the law has addressed to any significant degree,” [Emily Berman](https://www.law.uh.edu/faculty/main.asp?PID=5005), a law professor at the University of Houston who specializes in national security, tells WIRED. “There’s definitely no reported cases.”
Read the full story: [https://www.wired.com/story/fengyun-shi-espionage-act-drone-photography/](https://www.wired.com/story/fengyun-shi-espionage-act-drone-photography/)