A federal judge dismissed the DJI manufacturer’s efforts to get down from a list of Chinese military companies in the Department of Defense.
District Judge Paul Friedman ruled on Friday That DOD had provided “essential elements” that contributes to DJI “on the Chinese defense industrial base”.
Showing the use of Modified dji drones In the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, Friedman wrote: “Whether DJI policies prohibit military use is irrelevant or not, this does not change the fact that DJI technology has both important theoretical and real military application.”
At the same time, Judge Friedman rejected some of the other DOD’s logic for the registration.
Other government agencies, including the Ministry of Commerce and the Ministry of Finance, put DJI on similar lists before being added to the DOD directory in 2022.
When Dji filed the lawsuit last year, the company said it “did not belong or controlled by the Chinese army” and that “DOD itself recognizes that DJI is making consumer and commercial aircraft, not military aircraft”.
The trial also stated that the company was “undergoing continuing financial and reputation, including lost businesses” as a result of the registration.
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TechCrunch arrived at DJI for comments. The company said to Reuters That he is considering his legal choices and said that Judge Friedman’s decision was based on a single rationale that applies to many companies that have never been recorded. “
DJI faces other legal obstacles in the United States, including a possible ban on sales Starting in December, unless a National Security Service determines that its aircraft do not “raise an unacceptable risk to national security in the United States”.
