County prohibits use of DJI drones (for use by government agencies or for government contracts)

[SladeSteele07]

That statute appears only to apply to LE, not all public safety, so fire and rescue should be exempt:

Florida Department of Management Services

www.dms.myflorida.com

https://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2013/934.50

It actually applies to all government agencies.

 

[sar104]

It actually applies to all government agencies.

Well that's not what it says.

 

[Jagerbomb52]

The biggest issue with DJI drones is having to request unlocks to get airborne. Those used for government uses and infrastructure inspections should be able to be totally unlocked so this isn’t necessary.

The government one does exactly that.

 

[KLRSKIR]

Once again, over reactive, under informed bureaucratic buffoons make stupid decisions to add cost to things that make zero difference.

Right here is the biggest issue. It started with recreational flyers and is now spilling over to commercial & public safety operations. Those I've spoken with in this area have not had to face the buffoonery, yet.

 

[sar104]

The government one does exactly that.

It doesn't even require the GE version - any DJI aircraft can be added to the DJI QEP, which removes all restrictions.

 

[bcfd29]

I suspect this is all part of the distrust of China the West has, especially the USA over Taiwan. Also it is known that the Chinese imbed all sorts of software in their products.
So can y6ou buy and use non DJI drones, plenty out there.

and lobbyists from us defense contractors not wanting to lose the biz...dji competes with several

 

[CMartino]

It's Florida. They aren't known to be a bastion of intelligence and critical thinking.

 

[KB9Radio]

The military and many police departments did that over the last few years. It's supposedly because they are "spying" on them, but mostly just a political thing against China. At any rate, it only affects them and apparently any contractors they have working with them as well the way it sounds.

 

[PepperBird]

This is why I support the Federal Government making these rules. Imagine every county or state coming up with its own rules. If you use your drone for business, you now have to comply with each of those rules separately and completely.

Uniformity in commerce matters.

 

[orionshooter]

Since the restriction is codified into state law, it was proposed and voted upon during a legislative session. With a little effort you could review the legislative history of the bill and probably find your answer.

 

[Vic Moss]

This will become more and more of an issue if Congress has its way.

There are a ton of politics involved in this issue, and since that's not allowed in this group, I'll summarize.

Again, this is not a political discussion, but a real one. It's just that politics are involved.

Congress (both parties) have used the anti-China sentiment to "highlight" the supposed use by China to spy on our country. The legitimacy of that claim is very disputable. To the point that it's unrealistic for data transfer to be able to share data with mainland China to the point of the accusations made by some members of Congress.

We (DSPA) have talked with numerous Congress Critters (both sides of the aisle in both houses of Congress, as well as the Executive branch), and tired to explain to them that what they're proposing will decimate the drone industry, not just the federal gov't use of them.

As exhibited in this thread, there are no laws yet banning use of Chinese drones, yet it's already an issue. We see this at the DOI (the stupidity of the decision about what drone I could use for my shoot at Mesa Verde National Park is a good example), local agencies, and even states (Florida's disastrous "Blue" list use) are now forbidding Chinese drones. So are private companies.

We see a lot of questions from drone pilots who fly for some self-described Critical Infrastructure companies say they can't use Chinese drones.

The biggest issue with all of this nonsensical political ploy is that there are ZERO non-Chinese drones that compare with DJI and Autel when is comes to capability, ease of use, and price point. And even if an American company can produce one, we don't have the production capability in the country to meet the demand. And we don't have the production capacity to meet the component demand.

Congress is being fatally shortsighted in their push to punish China using our industry.

There is no data dump that would give any country any insight into what our drones see. It just doesn't exist, and I challenge anyone to find any evidence.

And even DJI lets the drone owner completely control what is shared. So that's not even an accurate argument.

This is the reason we MUST fight things like American Security Drone Act (ASDA), and other bills that punish our industry for the simply reason that legislators are buying votes.

This subject is a discussion in and of itself, but this post highlights the issues with ASDA, and the horrid unintended consequences of what will happen if passed.

There is an American drone company that is spending a ton of money in lobbying to try and get this bill passed. They see it as a way to improve the American drone manufacturing market. It's not.

You cannot raise an entire industry by kneecapping the industry leaders. You just can't.

ASDA and others will kill this industry, as evidenced by this County already putting into practice the draconian (& 100% pointless) prohibitions it would create.

Do not turn this into a political discussion, it will shut this thread down. This subject is too important to have that happen.

 

[sar104]

This will become more and more of an issue if Congress has its way.

There are a ton of politics involved in this issue, and since that's not allowed in this group, I'll summarize.

Again, this is not a political discussion, but a real one. It's just that politics are involved.

Congress (both parties) have used the anti-China sentiment to "highlight" the supposed use by China to spy on our country. The legitimacy of that claim is very disputable. To the point that it's unrealistic for data transfer to be able to share data with mainland China to the point of the accusations made by some members of Congress.

We (DSPA) have talked with numerous Congress Critters (both sides of the aisle in both houses of Congress, as well as the Executive branch), and tired to explain to them that what they're proposing will decimate the drone industry, not just the federal gov't use of them.

As exhibited in this thread, there are no laws yet banning use of Chinese drones, yet it's already an issue. We see this at the DOI (the stupidity of the decision about what drone I could use for my shoot at Mesa Verde National Park is a good example), local agencies, and even states (Florida's disastrous "Blue" list use) are now forbidding Chinese drones. So are private companies.

We see a lot of questions from drone pilots who fly for some self-described Critical Infrastructure companies say they can't use Chinese drones.

The biggest issue with all of this nonsensical political ploy is that there are ZERO non-Chinese drones that compare with DJI and Autel when is comes to capability, ease of use, and price point. And even if an American company can produce one, we don't have the production capability in the country to meet the demand. And we don't have the production capacity to meet the component demand.

Congress is being fatally shortsighted in their push to punish China using our industry.

There is no data dump that would give any country any insight into what our drones see. It just doesn't exist, and I challenge anyone to find any evidence.

And even DJI lets the drone owner completely control what is shared. So that's not even an accurate argument.

This is the reason we MUST fight things like American Security Drone Act (ASDA), and other bills that punish our industry for the simply reason that legislators are buying votes.

This subject is a discussion in and of itself, but this post highlights the issues with ASDA, and the horrid unintended consequences of what will happen if passed.

There is an American drone company that is spending a ton of money in lobbying to try and get this bill passed. They see it as a way to improve the American drone manufacturing market. It's not.

You cannot raise an entire industry by kneecapping the industry leaders. You just can't.

ASDA and others will kill this industry, as evidenced by this County already putting into practice the draconian (& 100% pointless) prohibitions it would create.

Do not turn this into a political discussion, it will shut this thread down. This subject is too important to have that happen.

That is an excellent summary of the situation - I agree with every point that you wrote there.

The only additional factor that doesn't often get discussed is the role of domestic companies, from the startups all the way to Lockheed, Boeing etc. in lobbying for restrictions on foreign sUAS manufacturers. Has that come up in any of your interactions with the legislators?

 

[Vic Moss]

That is an excellent summary of the situation - I agree with every point that you wrote there.

The only additional factor that doesn't often get discussed is the role of domestic companies, from the startups all the way to Lockheed, Boeing etc. in lobbying for restrictions on foreign sUAS manufacturers. Has that come up in any of your interactions with the legislators?

Yes. One company in particular is spending very large sums doing this. And it's not Boeing. It was the other American drone company Blue List sUAS that I had to use for my NPS project. I couldn't use my M3s for the shoot, even though I could have captured much better imagery for them.

To their credit, they sent me the drone for free, along with two of their staff to assist me during the two days of shooting. All at no cost.

 

[MacGyver1019]

I've had a DJI mavic 2 Enterprise advanced for a while and just got the matrice 30t. I approached our county sheriff's office and fire and rescue to see about getting involved in working with them and I was told that they no longer allow any of their departments to own or operate DJI drones, and that includes contractors as well. Kind of put a bit of a damper on what my hopes and expectations were but they cited security issues. Has anyone else experienced this? Thank you.

I have never heard of such a thing. Here in Lee County, FL and Down in Collier County they heavily rely on drones here! They just used them to find six different people that were missing! Both Police/County Sheriff and Fire Departments! I know that the different departments have several DJI Drones!

 

[Vic Moss]

I have never heard of such a thing. Here in Lee County, FL and Down in Collier County they heavily rely on drones here! They just used them to find six different people that were missing! Both Police/County Sheriff and Fire Departments! I know that the different departments have several DJI Drones!

Then you better reach out to your state legislators. The new FL law says they can’t use DJI after next summer.

 

[sar104]

It actually applies to all government agencies.

Contrary to my earlier post, you are correct - the 2021 revision to 934.50 does explicitly expand the definition of government agency for this purpose to include non-LE (934.50 (7) (a) 2):

https://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2021/0934.50

 

[SladeSteele07]

I have never heard of such a thing. Here in Lee County, FL and Down in Collier County they heavily rely on drones here! They just used them to find six different people that were missing! Both Police/County Sheriff and Fire Departments! I know that the different departments have several DJI Drones!

It was that way here also until last week. But the state law says that after July 1st, they cannot acquire or use any DJI drones for any agency.

 

[SladeSteele07]

Contrary to my earlier post, you are correct - the 2021 revision to 934.50 does explicitly expand the definition of government agency for this purpose to include non-LE (934.50 (7) (a) 2):

https://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2021/0934.50

While it is disappointing for me personally, I guess I can understand the reasoning.

 

[adamboettiger]

I've had a DJI mavic 2 Enterprise advanced for a while and just got the matrice 30t. I approached our county sheriff's office and fire and rescue to see about getting involved in working with them and I was told that they no longer allow any of their departments to own or operate DJI drones, and that includes contractors as well. Kind of put a bit of a damper on what my hopes and expectations were but they cited security issues. Has anyone else experienced this? Thank you.

 

[adamboettiger]

It’s less of a “We hate China” issue and likely a perceived security issue because DJI received Chinese Govt investor dollars and thus could have access to data.

“

Drone company DJI obscured ties to Chinese state funding, documents show​

The Chinese firm received funding from several state-backed investors, despite repeated claims that it hasn’t taken money from Beijing”​

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/02/01/china-funding-drones-dji-us-regulators/