Am VIOLAT Starlink – Ultimatum nou e-mail – Ep 227 – Lady K Sailing

21 thoughts on “Am VIOLAT Starlink – Ultimatum nou e-mail – Ep 227 – Lady K Sailing”

1. I have read the Starlink terms of service with a fine tooth comb from one end to the other. The problem with them (other than that they’re constantly changing) is that the terms they use are not defined. What is the ocean? Of course we all know in general terms what the ocean is but from a legal and practical perspective where does inland waterway stop and the ocean begin? After all, we’re talking about a legal contract here. I live in South Florida. It is impossible for me to transit the intracoastal waterway between Fort Lauderdale and Miami (even if I wanted to put up with a jillion drawbridges) because the I 195 bridge to North Miami Beach was improperly constructed and is the only bridge between Key West Florida and Deltaville Virginia that does not have an approximate 65 foot clearance height wise. The idiots who built it transposed numbers and built it to be only 56 feet high which blocks passage of any sailboat bigger than around 30 feet. So, if I am on a power boat and don’t need to worry about that bridge and stay in the ICW am I on land? On the other hand, if I have to go one or 2 miles offshore to clear the restricted areas near the beaches and several navy areas in order to get around that improperly constructed bridge, am I in the ocean? That’s ludicrous. I have no intention of trying to rip off Starlink by using my dish in the middle of the Atlantic ocean on a major transit far offshore. But Starlink needs to define where the Ocean begins. Here’s another example. Key Biscayne in Miami, I would assume but who the hell knows based on the squishiness of Starlink’s terms, is inland. I defy you to sail south in Key Biscayne and tell me where the Atlantic Ocean starts to the east. At least in the northern keys there is no blockage between the bay and the ocean at least not at sea level. The upper Keys are below sea level. So where does the ocean begin? This is the problem with hiring lawyers who do not or instructing lawyers to not, write specific terms that are definable and quantifiable in contracts. And I’ve been a business lawyer for almost 50 years so I have a reasonable idea about how to write a contract. I’m perfectly willing to live within whatever the rules are, but I have no idea what the rules are. Why can’t Starlink simply define ocean as being “X nautical miles from shore?” For example, in the United States, Starlink could do that easily by using the almost universally accepted standard of where the United States (at least generally) ends and international waters begin, which would be 12 nautical miles from the closest shoreline’s low-tide mark of the sea. It’s marked on all the charts as the “Demarcation Line,” it’s easy to determine. But Starlink apparently doesn’t want to do that… Why? Apparently so it can constantly change the game as it goes along. Sooner or later someone is going to get enough of this insanity and bring a class action against Starlink. They may not win it, but it will cost Starlink a whole lot of money to defend it. And in light of the fact that the South Florida Starlink POP is slightly inland from my house in Fort Lauderdale. Honestly to continue to fight NEAR (critical word) offshore use is stupid business decision because it doesn’t cost anything to carry the extra traffic so long as it’s not far enough out in the ocean to require laser relay or eats into the profit of Starlink’s true Maritime program. I realize that many people have taken advantage of use on the open ocean. I can understand Starlink reining that in. But I cannot understand getting an email that says absolutely effing nothing, certainly not in a specific and quantifiable manner, threatening me. I can always go back to using my Peplink 5g router with a 5G sim card in it. As far as I go out that’s surely within the horizon from cell towers and I can get 50+ megabytes a second down on it unlimited for $75 a month or less. So, Starlink, which do you prefer? That you lose me as a customer and you lose $150 a month I’m paying you and likely sooner or later face a class action lawsuit or do you want to be reasonable? It’s up to you and you will bear the consequences. You are a private company so you’re not going hurt me one way or the other.

2. Let's buy a boat & escape from this mad world. "Only if we can have Starlink". Hello.

3. dont discount sailors were used as beta testers for remote connectivity 🙂

4. The man lost a good bunch on the twitter deal , he just trying to make up loses.

5. Obviously, you don't understand how Starlink works. At 8:45, it absolutely does not cost Starlink any more to provide service over the water. The satellites are going to fly overhead regardless of whether there is a customer there to use them or not. The only difference in cost is the capital expense of the new satellites that have inter-satellite links. And really, the same holds true; they're going to fly by even if there is no one on the ocean to use them. There is also a bandwidth consideration between the satellites before hitting a ground station. But, if I understand the meshed network correctly, they should be able to hit a ground station in less than three hops anywhere in the world because the inter-satellite links are capable of covering thousands of miles.

   This is a money grab, plain and simple. Why would any yacht, big or small, pay $5K/month if they can "hack" a $150/month plan and get away with it?

   The real solution here is regulation until competition arrives. They get to use public space and public bandwidth practically for free. Their pricing structures should be regulated appropriately.

   It's important to note that "regulate" means to make regular among the beneficiaries.

6. This is very Shitty of Star link

7. A lot of sailors are on set incomes……

8. Is star link run by Elon????

9. That's just bloody stupid. I hope they reconsider soon.

10. Is there someone we can write, to let them know how we feel about the price? I can't afford $250. My kids like the security option of calling the friends and family while on passage.

11. You are doing an amazing job, keeping us informed, especially about Starlink.

12. Star link won't be able to track the submarines if you're using the internet on the waves 🌊

13. Smaller videos! Now that will be great.

14. Personally I see Elon as a reasonable guy that is probably totally unaware of this as he has a thousand bigger issues to contend with daily. Yes early adopters always face the increased pain of higher prices but I believe if the sailing community is smart and unites under the banner of safety and the wonderful opportunities that starling provides for saving lives the pressure and the marketability of this will encourage special concessions for the sailing community. Possibly

15. There's got to be a way to spoof you location as a workaround.

16. Great analysis

17. I'm glad I did not buy one. I'll wait, a decade or two. Every corporate bastard wants his pound of flesh.

18. Anyone doing business with Elon can expect this treatment
    It’s funny how some think I won’t burn if I jump in that fire

19. The average life of a Starlink satellite is only 5 years.

    The entire infrastructure has to be replaced every 5 years

20. Anything Elon is about is a rotten egg in hiding

21. Can you imagine buying a banana then told where and when you can eat it or it’ll be a surcharge and a threat

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