The FCC is going after third-party companies it suspects are bringing rebranded DJI drones and cameras into the US.

The FCC is going after suspicious DJI front companies
Several rebranded DJI-like devices are on sale in the US.
New DJI products were banned in the US last year

Since last December, new DJI devices have been banned in the US, because the drone and camera maker is on the Covered List, a list of foreign manufacturers deemed not to meet safety standards set by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

However, the FCC believes that DJI is introducing products into the United States through front companies under different brands, and is now taking action: as The Verge reports, eight of these companies have been fined $25,000, and authorities are awaiting further investigations.

The companies in question are Cogito Tech, Fikaxo Technology, Lyno Dynamics, Skyhigh, Spatial Hover, SZ Knowact Robot, WaveGo Tech and Xtra Technology. You can check out the Cogito Tech drone range on their website here and decide for yourself how similar they are or aren’t to DJI’s offerings.

Taking strong action

DJI Osmo Pocket 4P vlogging camera in a person's hand on a city street, screen rotated horizontally

DJI Osmo Pocket 4P (Image credit: Tim Coleman)

So far, these companies have not responded to the FCC’s questions, and it appears the regulatory body is stepping up its efforts to get some answers. Some of the testing labs these devices go through are also being attacked.

The Verge also reports that devices previously approved for sale before the ban went into effect have now disappeared from the FCC website, devices including the DJI Osmo Pocket 4 Pro. However, there is no indication that DJI products that have already been sold in the US will stop working or be recalled.

For any electronic device that uses radio frequencies to be sold in the US, from phones to drones, it must be approved by the FCC, which is why we get so many detailed hardware leaks in FCC filings. No company on the Covered List will get that approval, which essentially means their products are banned.

While DJI has expressed its opinion that its ban is unfair, it has so far not commented on the claims surrounding these alleged front companies, and it appears that the companies themselves are not being forthcoming either. We’ve reached out to DJI for comment on the report and will update this story if we hear back.

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