• DJI are a leading manufacture of Remotely Piloted Aircraft.
• DJI built a reputation for producing high quality products that were used across a broad market spectrum that includes recreational users through to high end commercial users.
• DJI has the largest market share globally, with nearly 50% of all FAA registrations being linked to DJI Mid June 2015 ¹⁾

DJI customers have started to distrust DJI based on a number of factors…

• DJI implemented “GEO” in the name of safety which restrict flying by operators who have legal permission to fly in areas that are marked by DJI as “No Fly Zones”
• Unlock processes are cumbersome and time consuming. In many countries, requests to unlock need to be made weeks in advance by email.
• This cumbersome process is impacting commercial operators.
• Owners are unhappy with the changes made by DJI. Some have worked to bypass these restrictions through reverse engineering and modification of DJI software.

• DJI are using open source software components without acknowledging the contributions from the authors, and without complying with GPL license conditions for those components.
• As well as being un-lawful, it is simply un-ethical to use someones work without crediting it, or abiding by their license conditions.

• Based on analysis so far, it has been determined that more information than has been previously disclosed is being transmitted externally.

• It has been found that the DJI GO application for both Android and IOS have back-doors allowing DJI to “hot patch” applications in a manner that breaches the rules imposed on DJI by both Google and Apple.
• The practice of hot patching essentially allows DJI to totally change the functionality of the DJI go application without the knowledge or consent of a pilot.
• Putting this into a different context, hot patching is the equivalent of the avionics of an aircraft being totally replaced mid flight.

• In DJI forums, it is against the rules to criticise DJI, or to talk about reverse engineering of DJI software.
• In third party forums sponsored by DJI, similar censorship is taking place for those that discuss topics that are not endorsed by DJI.

• DJI has recently rushing out multiple updates and patches to prevent reverse engineering.
• These botched changes have caused unstable flight for many pilots.
• Mobile phone manufacturers have failed to win a “war of attrition” with the jailbreak community.
• Safety will be the loser in the war between DJI and the community.

• Control: We believe that DJI does not have jurisdiction to decide where and how pilots fly their aircraft. Local regulators have authority through their laws. DJI systems should not impose mandatory lockouts of aircraft, unless doing so is mandated by the laws of a country where DJI products are being used.
• Plagarism: We believe that the use of open source code without attributing that code and complying with license conditions is unethical.
• Data leakage: We believe that aircraft control systems need to be dedicated to the process of flying an aircraft, with external connectivity being minimised to allow the application to be free of potential security, privacy, and stability problems.
• Back Doors: We believe that aircraft control systems should be free of any back-doors that allow modification of the functionality of those systems without the knowledge or consent of the pilot, including forced updates.
• Censorship: We believe that censorship in DJI forums and other DJI sponsored forums is ultimately harmful to DJI and the community. Listening and responding to customer grievances and concerns can only result in a better product that meet the needs of DJI customers.
• Safety: We believe that the loser in the arms race between DJI and the community of people that are reverse engineering DJI software will be safety. We believe that the best approach is to be collaborative and open in future development, which will allow the community to peer review proposed changes and find problems before they cause safety issues.

It is fair to say that this whole community started as a result of a lack of trust in DJI. We have provided above our position. It is our hope that DJI will listen to the community, and respond in a way that will benefit DJI and its clients.

Long Live the Original Gangsters