February is proving to be an unpleasant month in the US for the world’s leading manufacturer of UAVs and other consumer tech. Just hours after a news report claimed the privately held DJI has received investments from state entities in China, a quartet of US legislators introduced bills aiming to have the company and its drones added to more federal blacklists.
That drive is being led in the Senate by a trio of the chamber’s most conservative – and media-conspicuous – members, Marco Rubio (R-FL), Rick Scott (R-FL), and Tom Cotton (R-AR). The “Countering CCP Drones Act” they introduced Thursday insists DJI and its UAVs be added to the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) Covered List of prohibited companies and products. Equally conservative (and conspicuous) congresswoman Elise Sefanik (R-NY), meanwhile, tabled companion legislation in the US House of Representatives seeking the same blacklisting objective.
The initiative follows the very…
