94Ha ViewpointA U.S. appeals court on Thursday (February 27) rejected a request by Chinese surveillance equipment maker Hikvision. The company sought to lift the review license ban imposed by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on its newly produced video surveillance and telecommunications equipment in 2022.
According to Reuters, Hikvision cited a 2024 ruling by the District of Columbia Court of Appeals and asked the court to ask the FCC to lift the administrative freeze that prohibits it from submitting any equipment authorization applications.
Hikvision said in a court filing that the ban is “causing great harm to the company” and is losing money, but did not specify the amount.
According to court documents, Hikvision said that the ban not only affects its applications for video surveillance and telecommunications equipment, but even prevents its non-networked devices such as vacuum cleaners and warehouse robots from obtaining FCC approval.
The FCC called on the court this month to dismiss Hikvision’s request, saying that the 2024 ruling only required the FCC to revise the definition of “critical infrastructure” and did not involve reconsideration of specific equipment authorizations.
In addition, several Chinese companies, including Chinese drone manufacturer DJI, have filed legal lawsuits against the US government’s relevant restrictions.
