Not a step forward when it's a giant business that get's the green light. Nothing new about that, money talks.
What about John Doe and his small 2 man business trying to do the same thing?...
That's a reasonable question to ask Ronan but the 2-man businesses in the US are going to need to fall in behind an organization that is capable of representing them.
Representation is a very complicated term though in that it requires advocacy and possibly even conflict to reach one's goals. While there are plenty of groups popping up here and there claiming to offer "representation" most are trying to be service companies that will sell services to sUAS companies while never putting their own business interests at risk.
A company that organizes marketing materials for an sUAS based business isn't "representation"
A company that keeps an index of members for others to search isn't "representation"
A company that offers training on how to assemble and operate sUAS isn't "representation".
Representation means getting access to the process by which regulations are being formed. It means advocating on behalf of members to make sure the regulations are meaningful and can be reasonably managed. Representation means fighting until the fight is over and not just sitting at the table taking what you're given.
The bitter pill everyone has to recognize is that this won't come for free and that sooner or later we all need to come together behind whichever group proves themselves most worthy and that at that time we'll have to pony up whatever fee is necessary to enable this group to go forth and fight on our behalf.
The FAA won't give a second thought to our needs if we can't unite behind a professional association capable of sitting at the table and functioning as part of a group while also advocating for the needs of its members.
This is a simple truth that our community must begin to accept.