DJI to restrict non-compliant drones at next software update

[BorisTheSpider]

One more to add to the list of those who saw this coming. I doubt those of us on .400 will be affected but we'll see if something nefarious was lurking in there in due course.

 

[mavic6611]

What do you suppose gives DJI the legal 'right' to handicap the Mavic of customers post-sales , retroactively and after the fact, without consent and without legal justification (ie Go Pro Karma recall)
If DJI prioritizes appeasing governments or safety in the name of self preservation then so be it, but if it wants to handicap units already sold, then DJI has the obligation to at least give a partial / pro-rated if not full refund for those customers whom demand /request to be given the option to return their units and get their money back, since the product they got effectively was or had become materially different from what was represented to them at the time of purchase.

Sorry but no matter how DJI spins it, they can't have it both ways. Either DJI screwed up back then when the Mavic was on the drawing boards or DJI screwed up now, but why is the consumer subsidizing for DJI's mistake by getting less than what they paid for? Why is DJI allowed to effectively use tactics that could be construed as anti-competitive (artificially reducing battery safety margins to give better flight times against competitors on specs to publicize themselves to market, but then push out firmware updates to cap the battery usable levels after the fact, in the name of safety and the banner of security, without updating the true effectively flight time to reflect the change, etc) when they have ulterior motives and vested interests (increasing DJI Care profit margins for being more and more conservative in flight envelopes anyone?!) .... either way I don't see how this is anything but 'evil'.

I absolutely agree with you - your analogy is 100% correct in my opinion. After really reading about all these changes I feel nothing other than we have all been conned!!
It's nothing other than false advertising and that alone is unlawful!

It seems DJI have got a little bit big for there boots. They need to remember who's money actually pays their wages!

They also need to remember that there are other amazing drones out there. Not just DJI'S.

There's no denying that DJI are hands down the best, but let's face it, we the people will simply lose faith in their lack of etiquette towards us "valuable" customers and putting our hands in our pockets for DJI products will rapidly come to a grinding halt if for nothing else, most certainly for the principal!

 

[Robbyg]

What is it you want them to Address? Are you simply seeking a clarification of what the impending registration changes will mean? Wont this become self evident once the changes have been implemented. Either the sky will fall in or it wont!

Depending on ones point of view it may be a good thing to moderate the number of drones out there.
BTW I have calculated DJI are making around 1.5 million Mavics a year!

The sky is not going to fall tomorrow! Just like the often regurgitated "If you don't upgrade your firmware your warranty is not valid" statement, it seems people are trying to set the stage for a big ah ha I told you nothing would happen statement. You guys can forget it! I for one am not predicting any major changes tomorrow.

I have clearly stated this is second piece of a slowly crafted plan.

Anybody who update to .700 has already been sucked into stage one. Tomorrow will be stage two! Its the start of a registration database allowing them to have your consent that your flying permission can be locked into the laws for the location you are registering from.

Next the eye candy software that they will most likely release will contain the second part of stage two. That is the ability for them to send a message to your App if needed and have it require you to have a data connection in order to fly. This feature will never be used unless the country you live in passes laws requiring live drone tracking.

What I would like them to clarify, is exactly what will they be doing with this permission and how will it affect people who travel with their drone or how will it affect people if the laws in their country change?

The second question is are we going to be tracked like the Chinese beta testers have stated. Will devices with Data plans be mandatory at some point in the future?

What I want, is for DJI to state that I own my Drone and that they will not do anything to limit the abilities that I paid for.

What is so hard about that? Your average car can do about 130MPH, the speed limit on most roads is 60- 70MPH. If a car company was to send a software update and limit your car to 70MPH after you bought it, there would be the biggest lawsuit in history taking place.

So DJI leave the regulations to the police and start behaving like a drone company and not the drone police.

DJI needs to keep their Dam communist ways of doing business in China and stop trying to bully people in other countries the way they bully their own people.

Rob

 

[Turnerm]

So DJI leave the regulations to the police and start behaving like a drone company and not the drone police.

I actually fear what may happen if DJI were to make no attempts at putting some very basic controls in place. If that were to happen the you can be SURE the the "policing" will be left to the government and trust me... you don't want that. You think things are restrictive NOW??

If DJI just turns a blind eye like you are asking them to do then the government will step up. No one wants that.

 

[Ziggy01]

I actually fear what may happen if DJI were to make no attempts at putting some very basic controls in place. If that were to happen the you can be SURE the the "policing" will be left to the government and trust me... you don't want that. You think things are restrictive NOW??

If DJI just turns a blind eye like you are asking them to do then the government will step up. No one wants that.

I tend to agree.

Though I watch the release of this forced upgrade with mild trepidation all the same.

I mean, will this upgrade prevent me from flying my 5th Mavic into the Sydney Harbour Bridge?

 

[Strafe1]

1.5 million times $1000 is 1.5 billion profit a year!!!

Well, income per year. Profits are no doubt high. I'm curious how many warranty quads they had to issue in the first year....

 

[Robbyg]

I actually fear what may happen if DJI were to make no attempts at putting some very basic controls in place. If that were to happen the you can be SURE the the "policing" will be left to the government and trust me... you don't want that. You think things are restrictive NOW??

If DJI just turns a blind eye like you are asking them to do then the government will step up. No one wants that.

They already have enough policing with even the older firmware versions. You cannot fly near an Airport, Prison and restricted areas. Do you want them to now implement a Net Nanny service and monitor your flights in real time?

There is a Guy on DJI forum who is saying DJI Ken has indirectly confirmed that Australian pilots who sign up for the new firmware will be limited to 50mw of transmit power per Australian law. As pointed out the new system follows all laws of the country of registration, except for Canada. So he says that he can expect it to follow all the laws in Australia.

That means that a $1000 drone becomes little more than a Toy.

Rob

 

[Turnerm]

They already have enough policing with even the older firmware versions. You cannot fly near an Airport, Prison and restricted areas. Do you want them to now implement a Net Nanny service and monitor your flights in real time?

There is a Guy on DJI forum who is saying DJI Ken has indirectly confirmed that Australian pilots who sign up for the new firmware will be limited to 50mw of transmit power per Australian law. As pointed out the new system follows all laws of the country of registration, except for Canada. So he says that he can expect it to follow all the laws in Australia.

That means that a $1000 drone becomes little more than a Toy.

Rob

No... What we currently have are rules with little to no policing. In my opinion, DJI are simply trying to do their part to ensure that we are fully aware of the rules. Probably more of a CYA on their part than anything. I do not expect the new update to actually limit anyone unless they do not "sign-off" that they understand the rules in the region that they are flying in. I could be wrong - just my personal guess.

However, having rules and enforcing them are two very distinctly different things. I think what DJI is doing is trying to find that fine line between self enforcement and forcing (by no action) the government to start enforcing the rules. If that happens... then this hobby will become VERY restrictive.

 

[Strafe1]

I actually fear what may happen if DJI were to make no attempts at putting some very basic controls in place. If that were to happen the you can be SURE the the "policing" will be left to the government and trust me... you don't want that. You think things are restrictive NOW??

If DJI just turns a blind eye like you are asking them to do then the government will step up. No one wants that.

There are a ton of basic controls in place already. NFZ /warnings/restrictions have been there from the beginning. Supportive apps that alert you to airspace concerns. Flight altitude limits. Not to mention all the onboard safety mechanisms with redundancies.
As far as the government is concerned, it was Congress in 2012 that stripped the FAA of regulating model aircraft from previous overregulation. It's actually BETTER since they've acted.

 

[Turnerm]

There are a ton of basic controls in place already. NFZ /warnings/restrictions have been there from the beginning. Supportive apps that alert you to airspace concerns. Flight altitude limits. Not to mention all the onboard safety mechanisms with redundancies.
As far as the government is concerned, it was Congress in 2012 that stripped the FAA of regulating model aircraft from previous overregulation. It's actually BETTER since they've acted.

Fair points. I agree on the existing basic controls. I think what DJI are after now is a "sign-off" that we are aware of local rules/regulations and that we will abide by them. I still seriously doubt that they will increase the restrictions that we have today. I hope I'm right. I understand everyone's concern though.

 

[Strafe1]

DJI are simply trying to do their part to ensure that we are fully aware of the rules. Probably more of a CYA on their part than anything. I do not expect the new update to actually limit anyone unless they do not "sign-off" that they understand the rules in the region that they are flying in. I could be wrong - just my personal guess.

I hope you are right

 

[Logger]

1.5 million times $1000 is 1.5 billion profit a year!!!

Profit????

BTW you did not answer my question back in post #194 regarding your assertion that DJI have degraded all of our Mavics so now only 84% of the battery is usable. I take lack of response to mean you no longer believe that to be the case

 

[Logger]

....
There is a Guy on DJI forum who is saying DJI Ken has indirectly confirmed that Australian pilots who sign up for the new firmware will be limited to 50mw of transmit power per Australian law. As pointed out the new system follows all laws of the country of registration, except for Canada. So he says that he can expect it to follow all the laws in Australia.

That means that a $1000 drone becomes little more than a Toy.

Source is a user post on DJI forum - so it must be true?? Come on, stop the scaremongering. Is that the same guy who is quoting his source as a newspaper!

 

[adiru]

The sky is not going to fall tomorrow! Just like the often regurgitated "If you don't upgrade your firmware your warranty is not valid" statement, it seems people are trying to set the stage for a big ah ha I told you nothing would happen statement. You guys can forget it! I for one am not predicting any major changes tomorrow.

I have clearly stated this is second piece of a slowly crafted plan.

Anybody who update to .700 has already been sucked into stage one. Tomorrow will be stage two! Its the start of a registration database allowing them to have your consent that your flying permission can be locked into a certain Geo location. Also the eye candy software that they will most likely release will contain the second part of stage two. That is the ability for them to send a message to your App if needed and have it require you to have a data connection in order to fly. This feature will never be used unless the country you live in passes laws requiring live drone tracking.

What I would like them to clarify, is exactly what will they be doing with this permission and how will it affect people who travel with their drone or how will it affect people if the laws in their country change?

The second question is are we going to be tracked like the Chinese beta testers have stated. Will devices with Data plans be mandatory at some point in the future?

What I want, is for DJI to state that I own my Drone and that they will not do anything to limit the abilities that I paid for.

What is so hard about that? Your average car can do about 130MPH, the speed limit on some roads is 70MPH. If a car company was to send a software update and limit your car to 70MPH after you bought it, there would be the biggest lawsuit in history taking place. So DJI leave the regulations to the police and start behaving like a drone company and not the drone police.

DJI needs to keep their Dam communist ways of doing business in China and stop trying to bully people in other countries the way they bully their own people.

Rob

I think we all know DJI is not going to make any such statements of reassurance.

I had expected Mavic Pro 2 to be out by now, doesn't seem like that will be the case, probably Mavic Pro

Profit????

BTW you did not answer my question back in post #194 regarding your assertion that DJI have degraded all of our Mavics so now only 84% of the battery is usable. I take lack of response to mean you no longer believe that to be the case

It is true. Firmware 400 I can run my battery down to 10% before the forced autoland kicks on by default.
In firmware 700 it kicks in at 16%
So you do the math, what is 100% minus 16%?
It is 84% is it not?

 

[Robbyg]

Source is a user post on DJI forum - so it must be true?? Come stop the scaremongering. Is that the same guy who is quoting his source as a newspaper!

He created his own thread on the DJI forum and states that this is what DJI Ken told him. I would think that if it was false DJI Ken would have already jumped in and said so.

 

[gregw]

So, after being stuck in Beijing with its horrendously crazy no fly zone (60km radius) i thought I see what this new verifivation process is all about. I am on old versions of everything, as bought in the store in HongKong in March. Mavic is 0.400, Android app is 4.0.5. I normally put the phone into Flight mode before launching the app and connecting to the RC. But have the GPS on.

A number of times after leaving Hong Kong i was asked to verify my phone number, I kept closing the app, as it wouldnt go away, and it eventually didnt remind me, but it was mighty irritating when it happened.

Today in Beijing then, I start the app on the phone without anything connected. Starts and lets me open it without problem. But then... bang! the notification about verification. I click Ignore, and away it goes... mmh ok. Now when I look into my settings however, I see the maximum flight level at 0m and the return to home also at 0m. When I try to change it, I get an error, saying cannot connect to device.

I dont dare switch on the mavic and connect it at this point. Can someone else please tell me:

1. Is it impossible to change flight level in the app, wihthout the mavic being connnected?
2. Anyone else noticed this? Had this experience?
3. Or is it set to zero, as I am in a No Flight zone (which the app knows by way of map)

Really dont want to **** this up, as I am otherwise the owner of a very costly paperweight!

If you're not connected to the Mavic, the height settings are automatically set to 0 in the DJI Go 4 app. You can't change it until you're connected to the Mavic.

Did you already activate and flew the Mavic while you were in Hong Kong? There is no need for phone number verification for Hong Kong users, only Mainland China users... There was a case in Hong Kong where a user activated their Mavic close to the border of Mainland China, and his DJI Go 4 app kept asking him to verify his phone number... If I remember correctly, he had to contact Mainland China DJI support to disable that issue because he actually lives in Hong Kong, not Mainland China.

I have been to Fujian with my DJI Mavic and I've flown there without any problems, but I've already activated and flown my Mavic in Hong Kong prior to bringing it to Mainland China.

 

[Evo1668]

To be honest, when I first saw the notice at the weekend, the whole nature of the communication sent alarm bells off in my head.

I have been following the resulting thread quite closely with much interest and although I don't ever really fly away too far, always VLOS and if i do get NFZ warnings I just don't take off. Maybe i'm not brave/stupid enough, and to be honest posting videos online to show 'how far I can pee up a wall', I grew out of over many years, ego......

But I do agree with the points mentioned by the likes of Robbyg, Adiru. The sky is not going to fall in when the firmware and app gets upgraded, I do though think what we are seeing is the thin end of a very large wedge coming our way ........

 

[Cerberus]

I think we all need to calm down and stop with the bashing and speculations and fear mongering..

why dont we just enjoy our Mavic as is until the updates comes and we'll see how big a impact will it be first?

There is a possibility the update will not affect anything much and we'll all probably have a good laugh and joke on how we all "reacted" when this news first came out..

trying to be positive here

 

[Evo1668]

@Cerberus ....I agree, I don't think the initial updates will affect much or anything......

 

[Cerberus]

@Cerberus ....I agree, I don't think the initial updates will affect much or anything......

I'll bet its nothing very hazardous to us Pilots..

But even if It does log our flights in real time, I only fly around a nearby park and the occasional distance test into the forest nearby
so I've got nothing to be fearful of having my flight scoped out by DJI.. SO my thinking is, as long as you are not doing anything illegally or stupid with your mavic, nothing to worry about, right?

Just enjoy the flying....