It's too soon to say how effective the registry will be, since it's likely that a lot of early sign-ups came from people who were well-aware of the requirement and eager to get it out of the way before the February 19th deadline. The real challenge is to catch both newcomers as well as existing drone owners who don't yet realize that they need to register -- unless awareness spreads, the FAA could still see a lot of pilots slipping through the cracks.

[Image credit: Phyo Hein Kyaw/AFP/Getty Images]