Doesn't this bump up against common carrier protections? I sure don't want my utilities weaponizing their monopoly status to the whims of any random narcissist billionaire.
Mike
Basically this?
Doesn't this bump up against common carrier protections?
Hi Michael,
Internet providers aren't common carriers. If they were, it'd be
unlawful to stop your customers from sending email spam that was
merely offensive rather than illegal. It's also why Internet providers
aren't required to follow network neutrality. Internet providers gain
their immunity through section 230 and the DMCA instead.
Common carrier status typically applies to shipping companies and
basic telephone service. Part of the mess with unwanted phone calls is
that the caller has to break the law (e.g. by calling a number on the
do-not-call list) before the phone company is allowed to act against
them.
I sure don't
want my utilities weaponizing their monopoly status to the whims of any
random narcissist billionaire.
Starlink isn't a monopoly. Ukraine could have guided their munitions
with Iridium or another satellite Internet system.
That said, volunteering services to the military of a nation at war
and then pulling the rug out from under them is so classless, one
wonders if Musk isn't trying to build a communist utopia.
Regards,
Bill Herrin
I have a feeling he’s fired far too much of his legal and compliance team to realise
–srs
Starlink isn’t a monopoly. Ukraine could have guided their munitions with Iridium or another satellite Internet system.
Don’t forget GLONASS. 
1 Like
This is one of those threads where I do think folk would benefit from hearing from the horses’ mouths. In a recent bio of musk published this past week, the author claimed that starlink withdrew service over crimea based on the knowledge it was going to be used for a surprise attack. Starlink - and that author - now state that ( https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1700345943105638636 )
The onus is meaningfully different if I refused to act upon a request from Ukraine vs. made a deliberate change to Starlink to thwart Ukraine. At no point did I or anyone at SpaceX promise coverage over Crimea. Moreover, our terms of service clearly prohibit Starlink for offensive military action, as we are a civilian system, so they were again asking for something that was expressly prohibited. SpaceX is building Starshield for the US government, which is similar to, but much smaller than Starlink, as it will not have to handle millions of users. That system will be owned and controlled by the US government.
Quote
Walter Isaacson
@WalterIsaacson
·
Sep 8
To clarify on the Starlink issue: the Ukrainians THOUGHT coverage was enabled all the way to Crimea, but it was not. They asked Musk to enable it for their drone sub attack on the Russian fleet. Musk did not enable it, because he thought, probably correctly, that would cause a… Show more
Furthermore, Musk stated yesterday that had the request come from the us government, he would have complied.
I will refrain from editorializing.
Mr. Isaacson’s tweet (or X , or whatever the hell it is now ) is essentially saying Russia invading Ukraine was not a major war, but Ukraine attacking back to defend itself would be. Exceptionally dumb comment.
I also find it exceptionally rich that Musk uses their ‘Terms of Service’ as a shield to justify an action, while at the same time openly ignoring obligations on contracts his company signed with vendors and now former employees. He sure does love to have it both ways.
perhaps this is not a nanog operational topic
nods likely plenty of similar examples by less polarizing people.
Then lets hear them? It certainly seems like an operational issue if this starts to become common. How is it dealt with if at all beyond diversity which is hard to come by with LEO systems?
Mike
I guess this is a lesson on diversity which every military should pay attention to. I had forgotten about other wireless options that Bill pointed out, though I'm not sure if geostationary latency would fit their requirements. But is trying to reclaim your territory "offensive" after being invaded? How would other providers interpret that? Or maybe this is just a unicorn.
Mike