Companies Selling DJI Products in Disguise Facing FCC Ban
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is seeking to ban products made by companies it suspects of passing off DJI devices as another brand.
The decision to retroactively ban the gadgets that have already been approved comes barely a week after the FCC issued $25,000 fines to eight companies for failing to respond to inquiries about their operations.
The Verge reports that the FCC voted to give itself power to retroactively ban gadgets in October and now it is using that power for the first time.
The companies facing a ban include Cogito, Fikaxo, Lyno Dynamics, Skyhigh Tech, Spatial Hover, SZ Knowact, WaveGo, Xtra, and XAG. The FCC says that these brands “pose an unacceptable risk” to U.S. national security.
PetaPixel has highlighted how the Xtra Muse 2 handheld gimbal camera is virtually identical to the DJI Osmo Pocket 4, which is not available to buy in the U.S. The Xtra Muse 2 costs $700 less than the Insta360 Luna Ultra, DJI’s main competitor and opponent in the courtroom.
For consumers who have already bought a Muse, the FCC ban won’t affect them, but it might mean that the devices currently sitting in Amazon warehouses in the U.S. — the Xtra Muse 2 is available for next-day delivery — may have to be written off.
The ban will not come into effect immediately; the FCC is taking public comments for 30 days. The public can submit comments via the FCC’s website. However, as The Verge notes, the FCC has a track record of ignoring public sentiment, and has never provided specific evidence showing that foreign-made drones pose a national security threat.
In late 2024, DJI was put on a list to undergo an audit of its products and security in order to remain able to legally operate in the U.S. That audit never happened, despite DJI pleading with the relevant agencies to start the audit multiple times throughout 2025.
The FCC has also announced that it is “withdrawing recognition of SGS-CSTC Shenzhen”, which is a Chinese test lab that the agency used to certify some of the products to U.S. market. SGS-CSTC says that the Chinese state owns 15 percent of its lab, but U.S. law considers anything over 10 percent to be a controlling stake.
Image creditsXtra
