[jp42]

Internet shutdown typically happens during riots/ violent protests. Starlink makes "internet shutdown" impotent. Though Starlink has to follow country's laws and actually shutdown the internet. Most if not all protest are sponsored by entities that are against the host country and they will find ways to enable the internet for protesters with starlink or some other ways.

[alephnerd]

> Starlink makes "internet shutdown" impotent

It still requires a radio transmitter. If push comes to shove, a government can still track RF leakage or worst case GPS jamming (if it's really that existential).

Iran did the same thing when cracking down on Satelite TV and SatPhones during the crackdown of the Green Revolution (anti-Ahmedinijad protests in 2009) and anecdotally, Starlink terminals have been increasingly unstable in Iran.

I also vaguely remember a DIUx RFS within the past year for startups working on minimizing RF leakage from terminals.

[bilbo0s]

A lot of these people talk about Starlink like they never heard of RF engineering.

It's like, "Um, guy, Starlink can be shut down too."

[alephnerd]

> A lot of these people talk about Starlink like they never heard of RF engineering.

Because they most likely didn't. On a separate tangent, I HATE how most CS majors can get a CS degree without even learning basics about electronics engineering or even computer architecture.

It's a shame because a lot of the craft used in DSP and RF Engineering has direct applications in ML (much of ML is itself a fork of Information Theory which started off as a DSP subfield)

[protocolture]

Starlink just transmits to a ground station thats 99% of the time in the same country. Its not some magical space internet, its just regular internet bottled and delivered by satellite.

RF is really where this discussion needs to be, you and your mate jim can set up a bunch of UBNT hardware and create your own intranet really god damn easily. No reliance on some guy who signed on to all your governments internet censorship laws.

[HPsquared]

Starlink also uses optical inter-satellite links. Ground stations aren't necessarily required to be near to the customer.

[protocolture]

Starlink always sides with the government. ALWAYS. Starlink doesnt make anything impotent. They just retransmit to a ground station in the same country. They signed on to every anti speech law in your country. They do business. Musk does not care about you or free speech.

>Most if not all protest are sponsored by entities that are against the host country

What kind of seppocentric drool is this statement?

LoraWAN and Wifi based local chat apps are about all that works for most protesters when the internet gets axed.

[daveguy]

Starlink puts "internet shutdown" in the hands of just one asshole oligarch.

[protocolture]

Not really, but he does comply with every law.

[rbanffy]

Eventually yes, but it took 1 month or so of Twitter being blocked for the company to comply with a court order and have a representative in Brazil to receive court orders.

[protocolture]

Starlink does it proactively. They come into a new jurisdiction, they purchase satellite spectrum, they achieve a carrier license and incorporate all metadata retention, blocklists and whatever and then sell their services.

Its not like elon is playing silly buggers with these laws, he is complying completely while championing free speech online.

[jp42]

why i am being downvoted for this :confused:

[rbanffy]

Most likely this part you didn’t realize happened:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43354309

[jp42]

Well I did not even bring Elon into my original post. What I wrote is true regardless of whether its starlink or some other constellation. e.g satphones are routinely used across the world in conflict/insurgency areas. Starlink is already being used in insurgency in NE part of India and so on.

[protocolture]

You are very loudly and assertively wrong.