I keep hearing people talking about a need to target Starlink and yet they aren't offering ideas for how this might be done. Has anyone seen some good ideas for protest and action around this? Who is thinking deeply about strategy?
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Not very creative but I dropped #T-Mobile after 25+ years because of Starlink. Free phone with a new Verizon plan. If anyone can afford to switch carriers, I recommend it. ☺️
This is more of a slow process, but I think that at the local level it would be valuable to continue pushing for community broadband for both equitable access AND as an alternative to Starlink
Starlink does a lot of good is the hard truth; launching satellites for international and domestic parties and generally those satellites are useful and is also providing NEO internet the Russians cannot take down.
To hurt ELON ensure your investments are not with Starlink or any Musk ventures.
Starlink is starting to partner with cellular companies, T-Mobile for one, to provide celluar service in rural communities. They are beta-testing a program right now. Protesting the cellular companies might to get them to kill those contracts might be one move.
And let me clarify, it's seems less like a rural community program and more to extend cellular service no matter how far off the beaten path you are --at least that's how they're pitching it.
Rural communities need access to reliable service, but embedding Musk in consumer telcom is dangerous.
T-Mobile's parent company is Deutsche Telekom - good opportunity for transatlantic organizing. The CWA has partnered with the German comms union Ver.di on organizing T-Mobile but I'm unclear of the campaign's status.
Could we push auto like Subaru to start building cars without starlink? Does anyone know what starlink does in your car? Can you turn it off without problems with function? Is starlink what connects warnings and stuff to your subaru/car app?
By no means defending that nazi but something to consider, (if i am incorrect please feel free to correct obvi.). I believe starlink is for alot of oppressed groups in warzones and other parts of the world their only option for communicating and sharing their struggle for applification.
You'd almost have to go after their customers. I'd think the lowest hanging fruit was countries who are getting shellacked by tariffs, whose governments have booked contracts with Starlink. Canada already cut theirs.
The only concern I have targeting Starlink is safety for Ukraine. They use Starlink for military internet comms & we don’t want to jeopardize their war efforts.
Boycott any cell service provider that uses starlink for satellite signal, which iPhones on TMobile will use automatically & by default as a backup signal if 5G and WiFi are unavailable. That’s a start but I have been thinking on other ways.
So to damage Starlink's market share, you would have to organize with electric and internet co-ops to expand their service areas. You'd need engineers.
There is a subsidy in the US for rural telecom service, that is now getting gutted, which pushes more customers in the position of getting satellite service.
I will give this some thought. I’m a shareholder advocate by trade. So I am pretty familiar with actions to target publicly traded companies. Some of these don’t work for private. But there is an org that does this and I will list others as I think
There is an org that does this. They are similar to what my industry does in public equities. I’m going to reach out to them and find out! I can guess there are strategies around targeting investors that own it and also board members. I’ll come back to this post when i know more
As of 2023, musk owns 42% and other owners/investors include Alphabet, founders fund, Draper Fisher, sequoia Capital, valor equity, Baille Gifford and Fidelity. These might need to be verified for today. But with the smaller firms some bad publicity and protest outside offices could work
Thanks so much. Any actionable information would be great to have. As a start, creating a short handout that can be shared with folks attending the TeslaTakeDowns is what I'm after. If I get accurate info & if there's a strategy already, I can make my own fliers.
Love the ideas about pressuring telecom. But it is true that internet usually has one reliable option in an area.
It may be a long-haul effort to push for internet as a right, and national investment (good luck, right) into a public backbone network... maybe use GPS as a guiding example.
It’s the only internet my sister can get in rural Michigan. Not sure how we can push for state/county internet service but it’s been really successfully when implemented.
I think you’re going to have an issue with momentum re: starlink. It’s less of a consumer driven company and I know a lot of municipalities have contracts for their use with emergency equipment like fire alarm panels.
Cell companies. I think we should be pressuring t-mobile and the like to rethink their relationships. I also think on an international scale, he’s doing the work for us. Didn’t a Canadian official cancel an upcoming contract with starlink?
That's Doug Ford, premier of Ontario, but unfortunately last I'd heard he walked it back (Ford's a right-wing blowhard who likes to make a big noise and then fold when there's any kind of pressure from rich people). Still, the trade war might force more like that
That’s too bad! I’m hoping there’s got to be a tipping point where elons intimacy with the exec branch interrupts his business expansion. I’d love to see him iced out.
I don't know the outcome of this case but if Cah still own the land I imagine that could be useful in that they can invite whoever they want to stay on it. Music festival. Rodeo. Sky's the limit so to speak. You'd think.
If I were them and had unlimited funds and no local regulatory push back I would be immaculately petty with signs calling him out stretching hundreds of feet high. Of course none of that's a given but it's an idea. Maybe road signs. Without fan support spacex becomes the bad guy just like tesla.
Just remember that Starlink is the ONLY option for some of us to be connected. Whether it's geography, terrain, or remote location, without it we're in a dead zone. Helping the alternatives get up and viable is what is needed, around the globe.
I think that's a very good idea. Are there any local places beyond dealerships and charging stations where people might gather to make the point visible?
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To hurt ELON ensure your investments are not with Starlink or any Musk ventures.
Rural communities need access to reliable service, but embedding Musk in consumer telcom is dangerous.
https://bsky.app/profile/inquiline.bsky.social/post/3lkohxkxhh22l
Tesla? Easy, get a different car, if you can buy one you can buy a different one
But the markets for internet access have so much more corporate collusion that limits options, particularly in rural areas.
There is a subsidy in the US for rural telecom service, that is now getting gutted, which pushes more customers in the position of getting satellite service.
with THIS federal government? ...your guess is as good as mine, lol
It may be a long-haul effort to push for internet as a right, and national investment (good luck, right) into a public backbone network... maybe use GPS as a guiding example.
Of course musk probably has a lot of sway.
https://www.theverge.com/2024/9/20/24250269/cards-against-humanity-space-x-lawsuit-cameron-county-texas