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Unfortunately, it's easy for governments to criminalise owning Starlink terminal equipment. Also, Starlink may be legally forced to deny service to users in cer

• roywiggins 6y ago
  Iran's been having a tough time shutting down illicit satellite receivers. > One woman in the Iranian capital, whose satellite dish was demolished by the police several months ago, told "Persian Letters" that the first thing she did the day after her apartment complex was raided was order a new dish and receiver. > "That's the only fun we have here. There's nothing worth watching on [state television]," she said. "They can come and take my dish away. I will get a new one." https://www.rferl.org/a/persian_letters_satellite_dishes_iran_police/24514665.html https://www.rferl.org/a/persian_letters_satellite_dishes_ira...
• est31 6y ago
  Unless the government can seize Starlink's assets, or shut down/harm their operations, they can't really tell Starlink to do anything. E.g. if they can shoot down satellites, they'd have influence. This is especially true for economies that are as disconnected from the US as the Iranian one is. The only thing a state has control over is payments from users. But if smuggling in transceiver equipment with pre paid traffic isn't that hard.
  • rohit89 6y ago
    Starlink will need a license to broadcast in the country. And the dishes also need to transmit which will give away your position.
    • est31 6y ago
      Dishes don't have to transmit, only if you want an upload channel. It's entirely thinkable that important content like websites or feeds by important influencers is pushed to all users.