I don't like this. What is the business of a government in regulating the resolution of whatever form of imagery???<p>If it can be seen from the sky, or from the street, it's public. Planes, satellites, drones, whatever - you should be free to take pics and sell them if you want.<p>Fortunately, digital camera didn't exist where such kind of laws had been passed, or there would have been similar stupid restrictions (imagine google streetview with n-times 640x480 pics crafted together, or worse - a law restricting the resolution of the reconstructed google streetview you can view on your screen!)
For anyone concerned about privacy, higher resolution imagery already exists and is used heavily in industry. See <a href="http://www.pictometry.com" rel="nofollow">http://www.pictometry.com</a>. They use airplanes.
I thought that some of the higher-res photos from google earth and competitors were taken by plane, rather than satellite. I wonder how/if the new restrictions apply to lower-flying photography?
I don't like this. You can already see a lot of detail on these satellite photos. This is a huge breach of privacy. (Not that a 50cm lower limit isn't a breach of privacy.)