What is DJI, why is it being banned, and why should the general public care about this?
(In all seriousness, nothing I've read about "DJI" even explains the basics of the issue.)
DJI ban passes the House and moves on to the Senate
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Re: DJI ban passes the House and moves on to the Senate
#12"free market". Unless there's something better than what our own companies can do (Bombardier C-Series jets, DJI drones, BYD Electric Vehicles), then protectionism. Also, I have to say that I find it very weird that random unrelated legislation can be in the same "act".
When companies receive outsized state subsidies that allow them to undercut the markets, it's not an apples for apples comparison.
As for the unrelated legislation, I agree. Too many things are tacked on / added on. NO ONE is reading these things in complete given that sometimes they receive the full 1k pages hours before the vote.
The other issue is the number of things funded that shouldn't be in general but that's a whole other can of worms. It's become a i'll vote for your thing if you give me this thing, for every single vote and that's toxic and gross.
Re: DJI ban passes the House and moves on to the Senate
#13What is DJI, why is it being banned, and why should the general public care about this? (In all seriousness, nothing I've read about "DJI" even explains the basics of the issue.)
DJI arguably makes the best consumer camera drones on the market. Why ban them? Because they're Chinese probably.
Re: DJI ban passes the House and moves on to the Senate
#14Naive question: what prevents Americans from simply buying Dji products in Canada? It's a physical product, so banning it like TikTok or big vehicles is impossible, or am I missing something?
Since the control apps tap into GPS so they know when you're in a restricted zone, the gov't could simply make them mark all of the US as a restricted zone and the drone will never fly. I have one, I'm not happy about this.
Re: DJI ban passes the House and moves on to the Senate
#15What is DJI, why is it being banned, and why should the general public care about this? (In all seriousness, nothing I've read about "DJI" even explains the basics of the issue.)
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Re: DJI ban passes the House and moves on to the Senate
#16What is DJI, why is it being banned, and why should the general public care about this? (In all seriousness, nothing I've read about "DJI" even explains the basics of the issue.)
> What is DJI
One of the largest drone manufacturers globally and backed by the Chinese government [0] and several Red Families [1]
> why is it being banned
It is very closely connected with Chinese government stakeholders, with worries around privacy and data retention [2].
There is also some lobbying by Skydio and Andruil [3][4].
They are also breaking sanctions against Russia with Russian forces using their drones [5][6] (though the Ukrainians are using them as well), as well as sanctions around Xinjiang [7].
> why should the general public care about this
They are a popular low cost drone option. It might also spark a rise in domestic drone vendors - especially in the industrial and defense space [8].
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Also, can we please have another source. DroneDJ is a DJI specific blog and as such is biased in favor of DJI.
Here's some reporting from AP - https://apnews.com/buyline-shopping/article/dji-drone-ban-in...
And the bill itself - https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-bill/2864
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[0] - https://ipvm.com/reports/dji-prc
[1] - https://tracxn.com/d/companies/dji/__-YU3B-qveVWiE0QN_8HPp2m...
[2] - https://info.publicintelligence.net/ICE-DJI-China.pdf
[3] - https://www.auvsi.org/policy-proposals
[4] - https://www.auvsi.org/member-organizations-list/all
[5] - https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/21/business/russia-china-dro...
[6] - https://djirussia.ru/
[7] - https://ipvm.com/discussions/dji-xinjiang-human-rights-abuse...
Re: DJI ban passes the House and moves on to the Senate
#17Naive question: what prevents Americans from simply buying Dji products in Canada? It's a physical product, so banning it like TikTok or big vehicles is impossible, or am I missing something?
Nothing, they could even buy it in US... the ban is on Chinese company using Federal Communications Commission frequencies and they have all the good ones or even all of them.
I can't imagine what it would take for them to enforce the ban, so people would highly likely continue using and buying DJI products.
Re: DJI ban passes the House and moves on to the Senate
#18Oof, perhaps time to stock up if you rely on this equipment.
> Oof, perhaps time to stock up if you rely on this equipment. (I didn't read the bill, but based on the article alone...) Looks like it's a tentative ban on usage , not sale nor ownership. And currently with no "pre-ban" grandfathering-in, nor compensation for US people who'd be affected by the ban (e.g., investments in equipment, operations disrupted, migration costs).
One measure that would be interesting: a buyback of banned DJI gear, issuing vouchers that can be spent with non-disapproved drone brands.
That might help make DJI owners whole, and consistent with some of the presumed goals behind banning use of DJI. Though it's spending taxpayer money.
Re: DJI ban passes the House and moves on to the Senate
#19What is DJI, why is it being banned, and why should the general public care about this? (In all seriousness, nothing I've read about "DJI" even explains the basics of the issue.)
If you want to know why the US would have interest in limiting the growth of DJI look no further then Ukraine and the impact drones have on the war. The US wants to encourage domestic drone manufacturing by eliminating the largest Chinese manufacturer as an option.
Re: DJI ban passes the House and moves on to the Senate
#20"free market". Unless there's something better than what our own companies can do (Bombardier C-Series jets, DJI drones, BYD Electric Vehicles), then protectionism. Also, I have to say that I find it very weird that random unrelated legislation can be in the same "act".
There is no such thing as "Free Market" when trading with China. Pretty every non-trivial trade with China is in fact a trade with their government, which is anything but a reflection of freedom in any shape of form.
But this isn't simply protectionism. In terms of dollar value and jobs lost, the drone trade is minuscule. It's about military technology and spying - and this is not paranoia, I guess I can't prove it to you, but I can at least say it.