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The U.S. Government Just Followed Through on Its Ban of DJI Drones

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Re: The U.S. Government Just Followed Through on Its Ban of DJI Drones

#201

Post by someguydave »

Herring wrote: post #124
stickfigure wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Trump will be gone in 3 years. Maybe fewer depending on his health. It's unlikely that this change will have any meaningful effect on US democracy. On the other hand, little drones are effectively munitions now. That means drone manufacturing capacity is effectively munitions manufacturing capacity. We're giving potential adversaries economies of scale building things that may be used to kill us. I'm generally a pret…

The US has been having significant (and increasing) issues with democracy for a while. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratic_backsliding_in_the_... https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/04/how-stop-m...

The real threat to democracy was the intense lawfare that Trump was subjected to

Re: The U.S. Government Just Followed Through on Its Ban of DJI Drones

#202

Post by barbazoo »

brk wrote: post #12
fidotron wrote: post #3

It's this now, but 3D printers, Meshtastic, and the ESP32 all seem likely to catch the ire of the administration if some deal is not done in the coming years. I've been saying it for ages, but a decent easily available western equivalent to the ESP32 (meaning easy WiFi) needs to happen, and until it does there will be a giant hole in the middle of the entire maker universe, which increasingly acts as the prototyping…

I agree on the need to create an ESP32 equivalent. But the ESP32 doesn't really correlate to DJI here. DJI collects a massive amount of telemetry data and terrain data, forces the average user to upload this data, and isn't exactly forthcoming about what is collected or how it is used. An ESP32 can, for the most part, be fully audited in what it is sending. Yes, the wireless drivers are binary blobs, but the develope…

> DJI collects a massive amount of telemetry data and terrain data

At first I found it hard to believe that this is data they wouldn't get more reliably, more extensively from a satellite. But then I imagine, if you were a bad actor, you wouldn't want all the video, all the exact terrain data, etc, but maybe only that near certain points of interest like energy infrastructure, transportation, etc. So this, paired with satellite data is super powerful.

Then again, for most of the US, Google street view exists so there's that, a lot of the data is already out there.

Re: The U.S. Government Just Followed Through on Its Ban of DJI Drones

#203

Post by robomartin »

fidotron wrote: post #3

It's this now, but 3D printers, Meshtastic, and the ESP32 all seem likely to catch the ire of the administration if some deal is not done in the coming years. I've been saying it for ages, but a decent easily available western equivalent to the ESP32 (meaning easy WiFi) needs to happen, and until it does there will be a giant hole in the middle of the entire maker universe, which increasingly acts as the prototyping…

> I've been saying it for ages, but a decent easily available western equivalent to the ESP32 (meaning easy WiFi) needs to happen

  - Texas Instruments SimpleLink CC32xx (CC3220 / CC3235)
     - TI CC3235MODA module 
  - Renesas DA16200
  - Microchip PIC32MZ-W1
     - Microchip WFI32 module family
  - Silicon Labs SiWx917 / SiWG917
     - Silicon Labs SiWx917Y module
  - Nordic Semiconductor nRF7001/7002 WiFi 6 IC
     - Use with nRF52, nRF53 or nRF91 series SoCs
  - STMicroelectronics STM32 with ST67W series pre-certified WiFi modules
These solutions are priced well for commercial and industrial solutions at scale.

If necessary one can use any cheap hobby solution for initial development and then port to an industrial-class SoC solution. We've done this a few times during pandemic era shortages; using the RP2040 to get through prototyping and development and then switching the design to an industrial-grade chip.

Re: The U.S. Government Just Followed Through on Its Ban of DJI Drones

#204

Post by skeeter2020 »

reactordev wrote: post #155
Kapura wrote: post #2

Seeing how drone warfare has become the new hot front in 21st century conflicts like Ukraine, it's hard not to speculate on the implications of this as political unrest continues to rise in the U.S. It's no secret that the current U.S. regime views a sizeable portion of its own civilian citizens as enemy combatants. They are already shooting people in the face and not even putting up a pretense of acting shocked at t…

I wouldn’t call DJI game-changing technology anymore. We have a very healthy FPV community here in the states perfectly capable of building drones from parts just like Ukraine is doing.

that's not really comparable with the commercial/hobbyist market that DJI serves. These are not people who are going to research & build their own drones, or seek out small manufacturers; they're the ones who buy of Amazon and want the use of a drone, not drones as a lifestyle.

Re: The U.S. Government Just Followed Through on Its Ban of DJI Drones

#205

Post by skeeter2020 »

aeternum wrote: post #38
Kapura wrote: post #2

Seeing how drone warfare has become the new hot front in 21st century conflicts like Ukraine, it's hard not to speculate on the implications of this as political unrest continues to rise in the U.S. It's no secret that the current U.S. regime views a sizeable portion of its own civilian citizens as enemy combatants. They are already shooting people in the face and not even putting up a pretense of acting shocked at t…

Ah yes I'm sure it has nothing to do with the drones running closed proprietary software via OTA updates, with encrypted data connections back to China, while being outfitted with 8k cameras, gps, lidar, etc.

Your tinfoil hat narrative doesn't really jive with DJI asking for audit and review more than a year ago, with no one in the federal government actually stepping up before just outright banning things they either don't want or don't understand.

Re: The U.S. Government Just Followed Through on Its Ban of DJI Drones

#206

Post by mikkupikku »

goatlover wrote: post #172
mikkupikku wrote: post #123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Its obvious that she was resisting arrest and trying to flee. But as for the ICE agent being in front of the car... barely . I don't believe he genuinely feared for his life, he could have simply stepped out of the way. I think he saw the woman fleeing, figured he was close enough to being in harms way to justify himself, and shot the woman because he was mad at her. I've been in situations like that in Walmart parki…

I don't understand what jurisdiction ICE has to enforce traffic laws. We see other vehicles drive around her vehicle, so at most it was a minor inconvenience for ICE. Call the local LE on her if you don't like how she's parked in the road and they can issue a ticket.

Federal agents can arrest people for obstructing them, if you block the road they aren't obliged to defer to local cops and laws, because fucking with federal agents like that violates federal laws. Regardless, none of it justifies a murder.

Re: The U.S. Government Just Followed Through on Its Ban of DJI Drones

#207

Post by andrewl »

AndrewKemendo wrote: post #149
ivell wrote: post #109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My takeaway is that all previous U.S. administrations had pretense of morality and rules in both international and domestic politics (even when they did dubious stuff). The new administration has realized that there is no need for such pretense to stay in power. Previously Venezuelan attack would have been about "democracy" and "freedom" and "peace". Trump has made it clear that it is for oil. Overall it is probably…

> My takeaway is that all previous U.S. administrations had pretense of morality and rules in both international and domestic politics This is a perspective that continues to boggle my mind. Every record of the United States acting internationally has been either: Explicitly horrific (Invasion of Grenada, Vietnam, Firebombing then nuking Tokyo, Iraq etc…) Attempts to Subvert or ignore international law (IPCC, ICC, UN…

I would say USAID (United States Agency for International Development) has done good work overseas:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Agency_for_Inter...

Like all large organizations and projects they are not absolutely perfect or ethical, as you can see in the Concerns and criticism section towards the bottom of the Wikipedia page. Still, I think they made some contribution to humanity. I have seen articles saying the withdrawal of funding has definitely hurt communities USAID had been helping.

I know the CDC (Centers for Disease Control) do (or did) disease prevention work outside the US. There are other examples like these. I don’t know if the government did more good than bad, but they certainly have done some good that is not just designed to benefit American big capitalists.

Re: The U.S. Government Just Followed Through on Its Ban of DJI Drones

#208

Post by skeeter2020 »

spiderfarmer wrote: post #7
Kapura wrote: post #2

Seeing how drone warfare has become the new hot front in 21st century conflicts like Ukraine, it's hard not to speculate on the implications of this as political unrest continues to rise in the U.S. It's no secret that the current U.S. regime views a sizeable portion of its own civilian citizens as enemy combatants. They are already shooting people in the face and not even putting up a pretense of acting shocked at t…

It's no secret that VC's are profiting massively from this administration. And all comments critical of the current regime are getting downvoted on HN. Something adds up.

this is not really about VCs as much as wealthy tech billionaires who have learned that no one listened to their political thoughts & beliefs, but they can now use their technology & money to circumvent the need to gain a democratic mandate. Peter Thiel has literally stated this strategy, and you've recently watched them all fall in line, even if it meant massive whiplash from their previously stated positions.

Re: The U.S. Government Just Followed Through on Its Ban of DJI Drones

#209

Post by mikkupikku »

venndeezl wrote: post #163
mikkupikku wrote: post #127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It could be, but I think you're just drawing spurious connections between two unrelated current events.

What's lacking authenticity is your assertion a well informed political cult engaged in gaming the system for its own benefit is not working multiple narratives. If it was just about China they would not be turning TikTok, CBS into right wing platforms. They would not be announcing intent to violate 4th Amendment and go door to door without warrants. Trump doesn't actually care about China. He prays on idiots fears w…

> "lacking authenticity"

I am sharing my genuine opinions and perspectives. I assume you are as well. Let's keep it civil.

As for tiktok/etc, I don't think that has much of anything to do with ICE and has a lot more to do with squelching legitimate anti-zionist speech. That said, it does plausibly have a lot more to do with domestic protests than a DJI drone ban, which is hardly a blanket ban on drones, and really will do next to nothing to stop people from using drones over/with/for protests. By the way, the DJI ban went through the House and Senate with bipartisan support, during Biden's presidency:

https://dronedj.com/2024/06/14/dji-ban-passes-the-house-and-...

Re: The U.S. Government Just Followed Through on Its Ban of DJI Drones

#210

Post by leptons »

glitchc wrote: post #84

This ban has more to do with how much geodetic data is being transmitted to China and less to do with the actual drone technology. People flying DJI drones are mapping the US on China's behalf, and that too with great fidelity.

Google and others have already mapped practically everything. I don't buy that China is using access to DJI drones to map anything. Seriously, what data set can they provide that isn't already public domain?
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