The headline and most of this article seem to avoid the real point of the FAA complaint. The problem wasn't flying the drone. The problem wasn't posting the drone video to YouTube. The problem was turning on monetization for the drone videos. If you try to make money a drone flight, you are using the drone commercially. The fact that the money actually made is less than a dollar doesn't really matter as the intention is there to make money. Not saying I agree with the rule, but it seems to be pretty straightforward with relatively little room for interpretation.
EDIT: Even the updated HN headline still doesn't have it right. Neither the video nor the drone flight are illegal. The video just bumps the flight up to a higher tier of regulation from a hobby flight to a commercial flight. A better headline might be "FAA says monetized videos retroactively qualify drone flights as commercial flights."
EDIT: Even the updated HN headline still doesn't have it right. Neither the video nor the drone flight are illegal. The video just bumps the flight up to a higher tier of regulation from a hobby flight to a commercial flight. A better headline might be "FAA says monetized videos retroactively qualify drone flights as commercial flights."