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FCC Fines HobbyKing Nearly $3M for Marketing Unauthorized Drone Transmitters

27 points by lightlyused 6y ago

SaberTail 6y ago
Wow, they really screwed up. $3M is one of the bigger ones of these I can recall. According to the FCC's notices linked on the page, they were selling at least 65 radios that weren't certified, and thus were illegal to sell. And 12 of those radios could transmit on frequencies the FAA uses. Then they tried to ignore the FCC when it was investigating them, and didn't turn over all the information the FCC requested. And then they made a bunch of bad arguments to try to get out of the fine. They tried to argue "no harm, no foul", since no one complained about interference. They tried to claim the 5th Amendment protected them (as a corporation) from self-incrimination, which thankfully is not what courts have said. And they tried to argue that they couldn't afford the fine, but didn't turn over financial records to support it.
- qtplatypus 6y ago
  Yeah. You can;t just say “no one complained so there wasn’t a problem” licensing radio spectrum is a very expensive.
- londons_explore 6y ago
  If I were setting government policies, "no harm, no foul" would be a 100% legit defence to anything (as long as the people potentially being harmed were aware)
  - ladberg 6y ago
    That starts to break down when people try and fail to commit crimes (attempted theft) or do something that only has terrible consequences a fraction of the time (drunk driving, using bands restricted for emergency use).
- kayfox 6y ago
  Someone did complain, the ARRL: http://www.arrl.org/files/file/Regulatory/Drone%20Video%20Transmitter%20Complaint%20FINAL%20for%20filing%2001%2011%202017.pdf http://www.arrl.org/files/file/Regulatory/Drone%20Video%20Tr...
hatsunearu 6y ago
The unauthorized use of the 5.8GHz band (usually ham radio bands, and the "race band" is not ham radio too) by drone enthusiasts has gone unchecked for way too long. You only need a Technician license and your callsign on your OSD, I'm not sure why people are like this.
Unklejoe 6y ago
Sort of related question: How often does the FCC go after small scale electronics suppliers? Like, say I wanted to make a small microcontroller based device for cars to control the air compressor for air-ride suspension (just an example). Technically, since this device has a digital clock, it needs to be certified, no? How do companies like Arduino get away with selling devices that presumably aren't certified?
- alyandon 6y ago
  At a guess - that probably falls under FCC Part 15 rules since it isn't an intentional transmitter. As long as it isn't causing interference it'd be compliant.
- skim_milk 6y ago
  I think the FCC only went after Hobby King since they were selling radio sets that emit radiation beyond the legal limits. I can't find the limit for 5ghz radio on Google without being bombarded by 5g conspiracy theories, but I think the limit is something absurd like 5 milliwatts, or just barely enough for your Wifi router to pick up your phone through a single sheet of drywall at 15 feet away. If you're a Yankee that likes to fly drones like me, you have to buy radios from China that emit 10x the FCC-imposed limit in order to unlock the ability to fly behind one medium-sized tree at 150ft away - and even then at that power level it still doesn't interfere with anything. Leave it to the FCC to go after some harmless hobby instead of rubbish GE microwave ovens that cut out my home's wifi!
  - kayfox 6y ago
    Original complaint here: http://www.arrl.org/files/file/Regulatory/Drone%20Video%20Transmitter%20Complaint%20FINAL%20for%20filing%2001%2011%202017.pdf http://www.arrl.org/files/file/Regulatory/Drone%20Video%20Tr... They were selling units that operate in the aircraft navigation and traffic avoidance bands, as well as in the GLONASS band.

27 points by lightlyused 6y ago

Wow, they really screwed up. $3M is one of the bigger ones of these I can recall. According to the FCC's notices linked on the page, they were selling at least 65 radios that weren't certified, and thus were illegal to sell. And 12 of those radios could transmit on frequencies the FAA uses. Then they tried to ignore the FCC when it was investigating them, and didn't turn over all the information the FCC requested. And then they made a bunch of bad arguments to try to get out of the fine. They tried to argue "no harm, no foul", since no one complained about interference. They tried to claim the 5th Amendment protected them (as a corporation) from self-incrimination, which thankfully is not what courts have said. And they tried to argue that they couldn't afford the fine, but didn't turn over financial records to support it.

qtplatypus 6y ago
Yeah. You can;t just say “no one complained so there wasn’t a problem” licensing radio spectrum is a very expensive.
londons_explore 6y ago
If I were setting government policies, "no harm, no foul" would be a 100% legit defence to anything (as long as the people potentially being harmed were aware)
- ladberg 6y ago
  That starts to break down when people try and fail to commit crimes (attempted theft) or do something that only has terrible consequences a fraction of the time (drunk driving, using bands restricted for emergency use).
kayfox 6y ago
Someone did complain, the ARRL: http://www.arrl.org/files/file/Regulatory/Drone%20Video%20Transmitter%20Complaint%20FINAL%20for%20filing%2001%2011%202017.pdf http://www.arrl.org/files/file/Regulatory/Drone%20Video%20Tr...

hatsunearu 6y ago

The unauthorized use of the 5.8GHz band (usually ham radio bands, and the "race band" is not ham radio too) by drone enthusiasts has gone unchecked for way too long. You only need a Technician license and your callsign on your OSD, I'm not sure why people are like this.

Unklejoe 6y ago

Sort of related question: How often does the FCC go after small scale electronics suppliers? Like, say I wanted to make a small microcontroller based device for cars to control the air compressor for air-ride suspension (just an example). Technically, since this device has a digital clock, it needs to be certified, no? How do companies like Arduino get away with selling devices that presumably aren't certified?

alyandon 6y ago
At a guess - that probably falls under FCC Part 15 rules since it isn't an intentional transmitter. As long as it isn't causing interference it'd be compliant.
skim_milk 6y ago
I think the FCC only went after Hobby King since they were selling radio sets that emit radiation beyond the legal limits. I can't find the limit for 5ghz radio on Google without being bombarded by 5g conspiracy theories, but I think the limit is something absurd like 5 milliwatts, or just barely enough for your Wifi router to pick up your phone through a single sheet of drywall at 15 feet away. If you're a Yankee that likes to fly drones like me, you have to buy radios from China that emit 10x the FCC-imposed limit in order to unlock the ability to fly behind one medium-sized tree at 150ft away - and even then at that power level it still doesn't interfere with anything. Leave it to the FCC to go after some harmless hobby instead of rubbish GE microwave ovens that cut out my home's wifi!
- kayfox 6y ago
  Original complaint here: http://www.arrl.org/files/file/Regulatory/Drone%20Video%20Transmitter%20Complaint%20FINAL%20for%20filing%2001%2011%202017.pdf http://www.arrl.org/files/file/Regulatory/Drone%20Video%20Tr... They were selling units that operate in the aircraft navigation and traffic avoidance bands, as well as in the GLONASS band.