Drone maker DJI sues Pentagon over ‘Chinese military company’ label Chinese drone maker DJI has sued the US Department of Defense, alleging it was added to a list of companies affiliated with the Chinese military and denied the opportunity to protest its innocence. DJI filed the lawsuit [PDF] last week to protest its inclusion on the DoD's list of Chinese military companies (CMCs), insisting …
The jewel in DJI drones is the long range data link for video and control. It really is streets ahead compared to other non chinese players like Parrot. I remember with my bebops you could barely go a few hundred meters before quality dropped and lagged, while my phantom could do kilometers and it stayed rock solid, no lag and always in 720p.
I have seen various YT videos which mention that DJI and Walksnail who apparently also have a much better video link all use the same technology from the chinese gov. So yes DJI would be nothing without the chinese military "giving" them access to this tech.
Elise Stefanik is a conspiracy theory MAGA nutjob. - a quieter version of Marjorie Green.
Don't expect any bill from her to be based on rational logic.
Mind you, In this case it's not MAGA paranoia, it's American anti-capitalist ideals (capitalism for our sales, communist-state-control for our imports; capitalism for you plebs, socialism for politicians health care, bank bailouts etc.)
Same with Huawei. DJI's only crime is being too good.
Totally disagree. Its well known the Chinese struggle to create anything these days without ripping off someone elses design. This might not be how dji came about but the CCP have cracked down on lots of companies over the years. Any company over there has to allow the CCP access. What better way to collect intelligence by making a successful drone that could, potentially, send at least screenshots, of all it films.
I've never owned one so have no ability to monitor its traffic. But would be interesting to see what data it sends.
An example is mechanical keyboards. I wanted to try one but they are all too loud. So I tried an epomaker after my nephew had one. Granted, feels OK and is quieter than the main western brands. But the software for it wants to always phone home, the firmware update, despite manually downloading wants to phone home and even worse the drivers that run the keyboard attempt to phone home. No reason for any of it to do so.
There is still concern - not just mine - that DJI will not publish their control apps via the Google Play store. While this is not evidence of their apps not meeting quality or security requirements, it does smell funny. When asked, the DJI support drones (see what I did there?) just say "download from our web site". Not concerning at all, nope.
This is indeed odd, although amy just be to avoid having to pay 30% of any revenue they make through the apps to Google/Apple.
The concern with the drones though, is not that they currently contain spyware or backdoors, but that should DJI be required to by the Chinese government, it would push such features as an OTA update, giving the chinese government an army of drones that if nothing else, could be forced to fly into restricted airspace, severely limiting the capabilities of the US Airforce. While such scenarios seem like hollywood conspiracies, I would have said the same about exploding hundreds of pagers and walkie talkies 6 months ago.
"While such scenarios seem like hollywood conspiracies, I would have said the same about exploding hundreds of pagers and walkie talkies 6 months ago."
Absolutely. Nothing is beyond the realms of possibility or fanciful any longer. It actually could happen. It's just a matter of how pissed off someone gets to decide to do it. It then shows their hand and they will find it difficult to pull off again, which is why we don't see many real world examples.
You have to ask though, how many attacks you wouldn't dream are possible have actually been intercepted by security services. We'd probably have our minds blown if we knew about them. Which is why we don't. There's already enough fear in the world as it is!
"giving the chinese government an army of drones that if nothing else, could be forced to fly into restricted airspace, severely limiting the capabilities of the US Airforce. While such scenarios seem like hollywood conspiracies"
They seem like last week, if not last year's news, more like:
https://www.twz.com/air/protective-nets-to-shield-f-22s-eyed-for-airbase-swarmed-by-mystery-drones
How many DJI owners live within 10km from any air force base ?
Very few.
How exactly are the drones going to turn themselves on and fly when they are locked up inside a home or case ?
Do you really think that quadcopters have 100+ ranges ?
Even if the claims are possible its simply never going to happen.
FUcking idiot.
> should DJI be required to by the Chinese government, it would push such features as an OTA update
Yes. But maybe you don't understand your local law. This is normal in many countries.
For example, here is an article about the UK law that says UK companies and employees can be ordered to do that sort of thing:
https://www.theregister.com/2017/08/10/gchq_techie_deputisation_powers/
Under US law, the US government can require a US company to give it any data it has, any where in the world. A hosting provider can be required to copy customer data from a data center in Ireland and give a copy to the US government. Under a US warrant without telling the Irish authorities.
Source: https://www.theregister.com/2018/04/03/us_government_serves_microsoft_with_fresh_warrant_for_irishheld_emails/
Now, many people would say that this kind of law is unreasonable. (I would). But the UK and US governments clearly don't think it's unreasonable, because they have that kind of law.
That leads to the conclusion that the US are just blocking Chinese companies because of blatant protectionism. Or that they are totally two-faced - "it's okay for us to spy but not anyone else."
That's just wumao whataboutisim. There is a massive difference when a dictatorship does it, to supress its people and anyone that critisies Winnie the Pooh. No one was put in prison for saying Boris was a liar during his cosplay as PM. Or put in prison and silenced for saying Taiwan is its own country and independant. It doesn't need to be "reunited" as it was NEVER a part of mainland China or owned by the CCP. Its its own indepentant country. The ROC fled to Taiwan in the 50s and 60s and the PRC took over the mainland and eventually ruined it. The CCP are just upset Taiwan is a very successful democracy and now just act like a child who wants what the successful kid at school has got. You could argue the CCP are the invaders of mainland China and really Taiwan owns the mainland.
Just think, in the UK I can say this and no one will come and knock my door down. Say it in China and wait for it to be wiped from the Chinese Internet and then the fuzz will get sent round to make you disappear for daring to speak against Winnie the Pooh. Ironically its not even a Western insult Winnie the Pooh, it was created by the Chinese people so they could freely talk about Xi without getting censored, until he realised and had the term banned.
The Register 
Biting the hand that feeds IT
Copyright. All rights reserved © 1998–2024
