Obama: It's time to regulate drones

David Jackson | USA TODAY

President Obama says the small drone that crashed on the White House lawn Monday underscores the need for regulation of the emerging drone industry.

"I've actually asked the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) and a number of agencies to examine how are managing this new technology because the drone that landed in the White House you buy in Radio Shack," Obama told CNN's Fareed Zakaria.

Obama noted that companies are discussing plans to use drones for package delivery, crop management, and wildlife evaluation, and new rules for these and other endeavors need to be put in place.

The president declined to discuss Monday's incident in which a two-foot drone resembling a small four-propeller helicopter crashed into the southeast corner of the White House complex.

The Secret Service reported that it interviewed a man who said he lost control of the drone, and that he did not mean to fly it so close to the White House. The service said it believes the man was using the drone for recreational purposes, but the investigation is continuing.

"I'll leave the Secret Service to talk about this particular event," Obama told CNN.

As for future regulations, Obama said:

"So I've assigned some of the relevant agencies to start talking to stakeholders and figure out how we're going to put an architecture in place that makes sure that these things aren't dangerous and that they're not violating people's privacy."