And, whom gets to define "responsible flight"?
They are called GUIDELINES. Not limits.
I think what you meant to say is, "They are called guidelines. Not laws/regulations." The guideline does suggest limits. And you're correct. Those guidelines aren't laws or regulations.
Yet.
Two things I am pretty sure of.
1. The FAA is keeping a close eye on drones with their proliferation by so many people.
2. When the guidelines are ignored, the FAA will convert them to regulations and likely, make them more encompassing and limiting. It will take just ONE incident where an aircraft is brought down by a UAV with the resulting loss of life and there will be VERY strict laws put in place.
Realistically, one of these DJI Phantoms wouldn't likely cause a large fixed wing aircraft to crash. However, the same cannot be said about rotary wing aircraft. The faster a fixed wing aircraft is flying, the more damage will result. Also, the more incidents that are reported by the media which depicts close calls with airliners carrying hundreds of people will cause the general public to scream for limitations.
The outlawing of drones simply will not happen. That doesn't meet the common sense litmus test. However, laws and regulations can become so restrictive that drones aren't anywhere near as fun. I personally disagree with the FAA suggestion that all UAV's must remain in LOS. If you have the ability for FPV, like we do, then that should be a caveat. Once again, I'll stress that once the FAA is forced to make regulations, that FPV capability will very likely not be taken into consideration.
Finally, it's all fine and good that people say they have spotters. Aircraft moving at a high rate of speed makes that point moot because the spotters have no idea where the UAV is. The pilot has such limited visual cues with the UAV that he/she is just as likely to fly INTO the path of an oncoming aircraft as avoiding it. I can go on and on about why UAV pilots who think they're being safe flying at high altitudes is a very false sense of security, but as it is, I doubt many people will read this as it's already long.
Does that help you define what SHOULD be common sense, responsible flight?