Comment by est

Comment by est 3 days ago

4 replies

Datacenters in space have one asymmetrical advantage: FBI cant physically raid them.

And with Direct-To-Cell, content delivery satellites in space are unstoppable.

wat10000 3 days ago

“Dear T-Mobile/Verizon/Starlink, cease your illegal operation within 24 hours or we will start imprisoning executives.”

  • est 3 days ago

    You don't need other carrier's permission if the direct-to-cell satellite allows anyone to receive data.

    • wat10000 3 days ago

      The current incarnation of direct to cell is a partnership with cell carriers. I expect that to continue. It’s really hard to get the frequencies you need without that, and you really need a conventional terrestrial network for populated areas. I don’t expect that to change. The bandwidth needed to cover a populated area from space fundamentally requires more size and power than a cell phone can provide.

      Even if it does change, the satellite operator is still vulnerable to this. They can get away with it in countries that are largely excluded from the international order, as we see with Starlink in Iran. But try it in, say, France and it’ll be a different story, let alone the US. Even if you flee their jurisdiction, they’re not going to sit idly by while you operate pirate data connections in their territory.

    • jeltz 3 days ago

      And government does not need anyone's permission to do direct to prison cell for the executives.