Ukraine Discovers Starlink on Downed Russian Shahed Drone: Report

Re:Ukraine Discovers Starlink on Downed Russian Shahed Drone... by CamperBob2 on Thursday September 26, 2024 @02:56PM (#41661866)

Whoever exported the dishes to whatever Middle Eastern entity transferred them to Russia is very much on the hook for the consequences under US law.

Even if it was SpaceX themselves, they need to be fined heavily, just as any of us would be. They are responsible by law (and good luck downvoting the Department of Commerce.)

Also, whoever took possession of the equipment at the receiving end needs to be added to the Denied Persons List ( https://www.bis.doc.gov/index.php/policy-guidance/lists-of-p... ), so that they can no longer participate in international commerce with the US.

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Re:Ukraine Discovers Starlink on Downed Russian Shahed Drone... by s1artibartfast on Thursday September 26, 2024 @03:14PM (#41662073)

How does legally selling a dish to a legal customer in the middle east imply liability?

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Re:Ukraine Discovers Starlink on Downed Russian Shahed Drone... by Zigurd on Thursday September 26, 2024 @04:13PM (#41662756)

Easy: You need a service subscription to use Starlink. If you are paying for Starlink service after transferring it to Russia, yoo are complicit.

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Re:Ukraine Discovers Starlink on Downed Russian Shahed Drone... by s1artibartfast on Thursday September 26, 2024 @04:15PM (#41662797)

Yes, but that is very different than everyone in the upstream chain of custody being complicit.

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Re:Ukraine Discovers Starlink on Downed Russian Shahed Drone... by rolph on Thursday September 26, 2024 @03:18PM (#41662119)

if you know, or ought to reasonably know what it will be used for, you are contributing to armament of a foreign power, and international traffic in arms.

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Re:Ukraine Discovers Starlink on Downed Russian Shahed Drone... by s1artibartfast on Thursday September 26, 2024 @03:38PM (#41662346)

Reasonable does a lot of heavy lifting there. For most things, I dont think it is reasonable to be able to predict, track, and detect 2nd and 3rd order transfers.

Have you ever sold a used car? That could be in Russia right now for all you know.

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Re:Ukraine Discovers Starlink on Downed Russian Shahed Drone... by CamperBob2 on Thursday September 26, 2024 @03:18PM (#41662125)

That's just how it works, per Export Administration Regulation rules (see https://www.bis.gov/regulations ). You send something out of the country that's not designated EAR99 and it ends up in the wrong hands, they will^H^H^H^H can come down on you like a ton of bricks. It's a relatively-big hassle in the hardware business, with disproportionately high stakes.

Safe to say a Starlink receiver isn't EAR99.

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Re:Ukraine Discovers Starlink on Downed Russian Shahed Drone... by rolph on Thursday September 26, 2024 @03:05PM (#41661968)

this goes beyond fines

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Re:Ukraine Discovers Starlink on Downed Russian Shahed Drone... by CamperBob2 on Thursday September 26, 2024 @03:20PM (#41662142)

If there's intent, yes, but I'm sure they didn't intend for the gear to end up in Russian hands.

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Re:Ukraine Discovers Starlink on Downed Russian Shahed Drone... by 486sx33 on Thursday September 26, 2024 @08:53PM (#41665218)

Sure, go to Saudi Arabia and arrest people in power under US law. Hahahaha

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Re:Ukraine Discovers Starlink on Downed Russian Shahed Drone... by CamperBob2 on Friday September 27, 2024 @10:00AM (#41670598)

That's not how it works, hahahaha.

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