DJI's horrific support in unbinding a drone - SHOUT OUT

[mavic3usa]

Buying a stolen car could not be seized by the law? Just asking.....

It can and will be seized, at least here in the US. If an insurance claim was made against it, you might be able to negotiate with the insurance company but the person from whom it was stole would have first claim.

I am all for the authorities to seize stolen equipment when it is reported and there is title to establish ownership.

Imagine if the car was like a DJI drone, no title but only a login (car keys) to prove you own it, and no police report needed, just a phone call to the dealership to say your car was stolen and the car is marked. Under those circumstances, do you still feel the "stolen car" should be seized and given back to the person who has a set of keys?

Ha, here's it comes, I can feel it.....

..... few replies I got were ..... or your concerns are just some weird corner case.

 

[tstr14]

I am all for the authorities to seize stolen equipment when it is reported and there is title to establish ownership.

Imagine if the car was like a DJI drone, no title but only a login (car keys) to prove you own it, and no police report needed, just a phone call to the dealership to say your car was stolen and the car is marked. Under those circumstances, do you still feel the "stolen car" should be seized and given back to the person who has a set of keys?

Ha, here's it comes, I can feel it.....

Well, in the old west, horses didn't have titles or even keys for that matter and people seemed to 'deal' with the problem. Having been the victim of a car thief, I would have liked the old west method, as the "LAW" let him off after he pleaded guilty to other lesser charges.

 

[mavic3usa]

Well, in the old west, horses didn't have titles or even keys for that matter and people seemed to 'deal' with the problem. Having been the victim of a car thief, I would have liked the old west method, as the "LAW" let him off after he pleaded guilty to other lesser charges.

I wish we could rely on the same but you can only blame the government for co-opting that process so badly to the extent it was forced to be abandoned. We are where we are today because the judicial system is everything but just and the no one can be trusted to administer it fairly and properly. If we allowed our problems today to be "dealt" with, we wouldn't have a nation. But I don't think the answer is DJI's zero-tolerance policy. I think we were able to live with their previous strict policy on handling drone binding, what happened? To me the answer comes down to one thing: cost.

 

[Cafguy]

DJI simply needs to get out of the software business! BUT the ease of use and the instant features they provide is the reason DJI cornered the consumer Drone market.
If DJI would use open firmware and allow such things as betaflight customization and the ability to let other controllers run their Occusync system ( easy enough with a small Occusync transmitter box that fits on the back of your fav controller) and If they would allow other companies to make software, you would not have to "log-in" to anything... just turn on the Drone and controller.....Of course their goes the Anti-theft protection that controlling their software and members provides!

 

[EricJT]

I view DJI not unlike Apple.....why open up your ecosystem to competitors when you have market dominance? I personally avoid Apple as I prefer building my own PCs and modifying them with hardware and Windows 11 O/S hacks and tweaks. Nothing against Apple, that's just me.....as for DJI, they have a fairly closed ecosystem but l am willing to live with that due to the performance of their drones and software.

Is the unbinding specific an irritant? To some, yes but not to me.....I only buy from reputable sources so not an issue with me.

 

[Cafguy]

I have a MAC simply because when I was working in Graphics it was pretty much required. I dont use it much anymore and its pretty much a music player lol I love my PC and use it most of the time now....... I love my games!

 

[mavic3usa]

Is the unbinding specific an irritant? To some, yes but not to me.....I only buy from reputable sources so not an issue with me.

I appreciate the reply Eric but I gotta ask, do you believe "reputable sources" are not affected by this? Do you believe buy narrowing your purchase habits to "reputable sources" eliminates your risk of getting a drone that is bound? Do you believe this is what's best for the drone community to steer everyone towards "reputable sources" in order not to be the victim of a trap set by DJI?

I remember when the entire electronics industry was ran by strict adherence to authorized dealers and approved resellers only. Any purchases outside those [manufacturer controlled] sources and you were SOL. The system was stale with high prices, no features, and no innovation. Is that what we want to go back to?

I remember when you couldn't buy a mobile phone from anywhere but "Tom's 5th Electronics" and "Radio Shack" and that's it. They were the only ones allowed to sell you a mobile phone, activate it, and charge you all kinds of ridiculous fees and put you on their plans. You couldn't even buy a phone from out of town. The phones were permanently locked to the carrier and if you wanted to switch, you had to throw the phone in the drawer because they wouldn't even activate it for anyone else even with that same carrier. Pressure (and competition) forced them to change and here we are. No such pressure will ever come like that to DJI, we are at their mercy. Imagine the number of new drones they were able to sell by refusing to release drones that were obviously neither stolen nor lost nor under insurance. Remember, that was the excuse from the carriers, this mobile phone is under contract [plan] or the buyer only paid $25 for the phone so we won't release it and there's no "option" to pay the difference. It was awful.

You and I and the rest of the forum members are the few knowledgable and honest about these drones but I don't wear the blinders, I see the pain and agony the victims (on Reddit) go through on a weekly basis and the more NEW people that get into the drone community with no new drones available but only used drones that could be locked, the bigger this sh*tstorm is going to get.

I'll answer the question: YES, if you steal both the drone and the controller and you power them up and connect them, you can unbind them with a press of the button as long as you are connected to the internet and you do it before the victim can notify DJI which means steal your drones and controller together at midnight. No password is required. Anyone reading this, tell me you believe it is ok to unbind a drone without first having to input the password associated with that account, tell me think this is an acceptable process and I'll leave it. Name one other website or any other process that has a password but doesn't require you to use it to manipulate the account functions. Logging off without a password is fine but unbinding is NOT.