Also, in case anyone is counting, Starlink is now 63% of all active satellites.
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Also, in case anyone is counting, Starlink is now 63% of all active satellites.
2 out of ever 3 satellites up there now are owned by that awful billionaire. He effectively controls Low Earth Orbit. That should terrify everyone.
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Prof. Sam Lawlerreplied to Prof. Sam Lawler last edited by
...just in case anyone needs more to be terrified of. Sorry.
You know what you can do? Not buy Starlink internet. (And if Starlink is your only option, write to them as a customer and tell them that you are concerned about their safety practices on the ground and in orbit, and they need to make fewer satellites with longer functional lifetimes)
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Woozle Hypertwinreplied to Prof. Sam Lawler last edited by
@sundogplanets For-profit satellites should pay an international tax for access to LEO orbits, since crowding and debris are becoming a problem and money has already been spent (and more will be spent) working out how to clean it up.
...yeah, I don't know how to make this happen.
Easier: only democratic governments, nonprofits, and co-ops should have access to LEO. (Yeah, still impossible at the moment, but something to aim for.)
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@sundogplanets Do you know Musk tries to gain influence with some rather naive leftist groups by offering them free Starlink gear for their direct actions/protest work? I know because he offered & then donated several full Starlink setups to activists in BC. People took them out of desperation because other communications gear was seized by RCMP CIRG. I heard similar things had happened with Starlink in NZ & a few places in South America too.
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@sundogplanets @PhoenixSerenity Not just influence. Being the transport, it would be easy to snoop their activity, and trivial to locate them. Not that great an idea for any kind of activist. If you know them, tell them about VPNs, at a minimum.
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@obviousdwest @sundogplanets I tried to warn people that accepting would make it easier to track them but they didn't listen to me. I refused to use the gear. I moved camps a few times when people brought Starlink gear to where I was tenting.
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@sundogplanets Feels like a real life supervillain
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@PhoenixSerenity @obviousdwest WHOA I had no idea they were "donating" starlink equipment to activists. Wow. Good on you for not taking it at face value...techbros NEVER give away stuff for free!
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Samuel Hautamäkireplied to Woozle Hypertwin last edited by
@woozle @sundogplanets A tax wouldn't really punish big companies, they could afford to pay it, but smaller companies (and competitors) wouldn't necessarily be able to. Satellite counts need to be LIMITED (not satellites taxed) and with every satellite deployed they need a concrete plan for after it's obsolete (i.e. a way to collect it or re-use it so it doesn't burn up in the stratosphere and damaging the ozone)
