Which makes it even more dumb, the people we don't want taking pictures do so at will while the people we don't mind taking pictures are banned.

I don't know about you, but Facebook is under US jurisdiction, and I'd rather they didn't launch a remote-sensing satellite without going through some regulatory hoops.

It's also dumb because it gives them incentive to just move to another country that doesn't care.

Welcome to most laws.

Speak for yourself - i dont want companies taking pictures.

But they do, commercial satellite imagery is a big business (anyone who has used Google Earth knows this). It's just not the business SpaceX is in so it's not worth going through the hassle.

That wasnt the main idea of my statement.

I contend that my desire differs from parent comments claim

What gives that agency jurisdiction over things in orbit? This whole thing seems really strange.

The US Government has granted NOAA that authority over American companies and the things they put into orbit.

They don’t have that authority over things OTHER countries and their companies put into orbit.

They have jurisdiction over the SpaceX as a US company, thus the power to force them to adhere to regs