Gov. John Carney (DE) signed legislation at Vaughn Correctional Center that increases the penalties for individuals trying to use a drone to drop contraband into any of the state’s prisons.

An increasingly civilian market for unmanned aircraft is leading legislators to reconsider the laws regarding aerial surveillance and intelligence gathering.

34 colleges and universities applied for drone permits in 2012, mostly for academic purposes, but privacy activists are concerned. 

With potential applications in crop spraying, watering and land surveys, farmers might quickly overtake law enforcement as the robots' next big market.