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posted by Fnord666 on Wednesday July 31 2019, @10:39PM   Printer-friendly
from the no-internet-for-you! dept.

Russia Denies OneWeb's Satellite Internet Request:

A firm that plans to launch hundreds of satellites into orbit to provide worldwide internet coverage has failed in its latest attempt to get approval in Russia.

OneWeb, whose headquarters are in the UK, was seeking to use a certain band of radio frequencies in Russia.

However, the State Commission for Radio Frequencies has denied it permission to do so.

OneWeb has been trying to get approval for its Russian operations since 2017.

The company was founded by US entrepreneur Greg Wyler. It launched its first six satellites, out of a proposed 650, into orbit in February.

In 2017, Russia's communications authority Roskomnadzor blocked OneWeb from offering services in the country.

And the Federal Security Service (FSB) said that the satellites could be used for espionage.

Of note is that OneWeb is using Russian rockets and launch sites to deploy its satellites.


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  • (Score: 5, Informative) by takyon on Wednesday July 31 2019, @10:56PM (16 children)

    by takyon (881) <reversethis-{gro ... s} {ta} {noykat}> on Wednesday July 31 2019, @10:56PM (#873767) Journal

    Russia doesn't want a hard-to-censor source of (real) internet access within its borders.

    Maybe they can't stop the pizza box sized phased array antennae from being smuggled in (I'm assuming OneWeb and Starlink will be similar), but they can make it difficult for it to reach a large amount of people.

    No matter what you think about Russia in American politics, don't forget that it is under one party rule, with most media controlled or friendly to the state, and journalists mysteriously dying.

    Also:

    Russia Bans VPNs and Tor, Effective November 1 [soylentnews.org]
    Thousands in Moscow Protest Bill Routing all Internet traffic through Russian Servers [soylentnews.org]
    Russia's Parliament Votes to Unplug Regional Network from the Internet [soylentnews.org]

    There will probably be a satellite internet constellation in use in Russia in the future, particularly to reach rural residents, but it would be a nationalized system compliant with Russian firewalls/kill switches. And China will have their own, and so on. Unless the Putin regime crumbles, in which case things might get a little more open over there.

    https://soylentnews.org/comments.pl?noupdate=1&sid=31852&page=1&cid=849167#commentwrap [soylentnews.org]

    SpaceX isn't the only company that will be sending up hundreds or thousands of Internet satellites. OneWeb, Amazon, and others are sending up thousands. I imagine China and Russia will have their own versions eventually. Expect 100,000 to 1 million satellites in Earth orbit in the long run.

    --
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  • (Score: 2) by c0lo on Wednesday July 31 2019, @11:34PM (1 child)

    by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday July 31 2019, @11:34PM (#873784) Journal

    No matter what you think about Russia in American politics, don't forget that it is under one party rule, with most media controlled or friendly to the state, and journalists mysteriously dying.

    If you consider how much the whole 2party electoral circus in US costs and the benefits the Americans derive from it... I can't blame the significant amount of Americans and who would prefer the other party (the one they are not backing) to 'just die' so that only their party will rule everybody.

    --
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 01 2019, @01:38AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 01 2019, @01:38AM (#873812)

      Political thunder^W inceldome is destroying America.

      They can't unplug from the two-party matrix.

  • (Score: 1) by fustakrakich on Wednesday July 31 2019, @11:41PM (7 children)

    by fustakrakich (6150) on Wednesday July 31 2019, @11:41PM (#873785) Journal

    it is under one party rule, with most media controlled or friendly to the state, and journalists mysteriously dying.

    That's a U.S. Saudi thing... and Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Brazil... Russia is just another member of the club. Journalism is hardly safer than driving a taxi...

    FTA:
    ...satellites could be used for espionage.

    Chaaa! That's what the internet is for..

    My question is, how are they going to block the service. They can't stop satellites from flying over their territory. The company should make is easy to build black boxes and antennae, put the schematics up and stuff. If we work at it, we can make it impossible for anyone to block its use.

    Expect 100,000 to 1 million satellites in Earth orbit in the long run.

    Got more than that in space junk probably

    --
    La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
    • (Score: 2) by c0lo on Thursday August 01 2019, @12:13AM (4 children)

      by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Thursday August 01 2019, @12:13AM (#873790) Journal

      My question is, how are they going to block the service. They can't stop satellites from flying over their territory.

      "Tell me, Mr. Anderson, what good is a phone call when you are unable to speak?" applied to the case of sattelite.
      You can call a satellite on the designated frequency, but it won't answer while flying over Russia. Or else the Russians might just fry it - non-nukes EMP [wikipedia.org] are their invention, a parabolic mirror to make EMP directional and 1kg TNT to give it enough ooomph** is not that expensive for a determined state.

      ** that's 4MJ [wikipedia.org] in less than 1ms = 4GW of power. Even with a inverse square with the distance, a directional beam may have an intensity large enough to fry the electronics inside the satellite. If not, what's some extra kilos of TNT between friends?

      --
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
      • (Score: 1) by fustakrakich on Thursday August 01 2019, @12:45AM (3 children)

        by fustakrakich (6150) on Thursday August 01 2019, @12:45AM (#873802) Journal

        That's why you put up a swarm of the things, and keep them close to the Russian birds so they get blown up too.

        --
        La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
        • (Score: 2) by c0lo on Thursday August 01 2019, @01:29AM (2 children)

          by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Thursday August 01 2019, @01:29AM (#873811) Journal

          and keep them close to the Russian birds

          lol. Russian birds will just load their capacitors with their PV and fry your swarm one by one in a more more energy-efficient manner, from close range.

          --
          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
          • (Score: 1) by fustakrakich on Thursday August 01 2019, @02:52AM (1 child)

            by fustakrakich (6150) on Thursday August 01 2019, @02:52AM (#873835) Journal

            The battle will be interesting. I hope they put cameras on the things..

            --
            La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
            • (Score: 2) by c0lo on Thursday August 01 2019, @03:46AM

              by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Thursday August 01 2019, @03:46AM (#873862) Journal

              The battle will be interesting.

              Yeap, should be sparkling. Cheers.

              --
              https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 01 2019, @12:55AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 01 2019, @12:55AM (#873804)

      The company should make is easy to build black boxes and antennae, put the schematics up and stuff. If we work at it, we can make it impossible for anyone to block its use.

      The company will be subject to a lawsuit that it cannot win. In addition to that, a microwave transceiver is a very complex device. Some of that complexity is in very specific parts and boards, in difficult assembly and in difficult alignment without microwave test sets. The cost will be extreme as well. A common netflix user cannot build such a thing. Some - very few - amateurs (hams) can, but any attempt to sell will be easy to trace back to them.

    • (Score: 2) by c0lo on Thursday August 01 2019, @01:49AM

      by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Thursday August 01 2019, @01:49AM (#873815) Journal

      ...satellites could be used for espionage.

      Chaaa! That's what the internet is for..

      Disagree [youtube.com]

      --
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
  • (Score: 2) by legont on Wednesday July 31 2019, @11:57PM (4 children)

    by legont (4179) on Wednesday July 31 2019, @11:57PM (#873787)

    Russian concern is probably not the censorship, but the reliance on technology from a country known for denying it to other countries at difficult moments (aka sanctions).

    --
    "Wealth is the relentless enemy of understanding" - John Kenneth Galbraith.
    • (Score: 2) by takyon on Thursday August 01 2019, @12:14AM (3 children)

      by takyon (881) <reversethis-{gro ... s} {ta} {noykat}> on Thursday August 01 2019, @12:14AM (#873792) Journal

      The satellites are still going to be in orbit whether or not Russians can use them.

      --
      [SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
      • (Score: 2) by legont on Thursday August 01 2019, @12:33AM (2 children)

        by legont (4179) on Thursday August 01 2019, @12:33AM (#873800)

        That's fine as far as Russia is concerned. It probably does not care that much if some folks would use them to watch gay porn. However, Russia does not want them to be used for critical infrastructure and since it would be illegal the chances would be low.

        --
        "Wealth is the relentless enemy of understanding" - John Kenneth Galbraith.
        • (Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 01 2019, @02:07AM (1 child)

          by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 01 2019, @02:07AM (#873822)

          In Russia [wikipedia.org]:

          First countrywide judicial censorship measures were taken by the government in the wake of the 2011–13 Russian protests. This included the Internet blacklist law, implemented in November 2012. The criteria for inclusion in the blacklist initially included child pornography, advocating suicide and illegal drugs. In 2013, the blacklist law was amended with content "suspected in extremism", "calling for illegal meetings", "inciting hatred" and "violating the established order".

          The law allowed for flexible interpretation and inclusion of a wide array of content. Popular opposition websites encouraging protests against the court rulings in Bolotnaya Square case were for example blocked for "calling for illegal action"; Dumb Ways to Die, a public transport safety video, was blocked as "suicide propaganda"; websites discussing federalization of Siberia—as "attack on the foundations of the constitution"; an article on a gay activist being fired from job as well as LGBT support communities—as "propaganda of non-traditional sex relations"; publishing Pussy Riot logo—as "insult of the feelings of believers"; criticism of overspending of local governor—"insult of the authorities"; publishing a poem in support of Ukraine—"inciting hatred" etc. A separate class of materials blocked due to "extremism" are several religious publications, mostly Muslim and Jehovah's Witnesses. Bans can be challenged in courts, and in some cases these appeals are successful.

          • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 01 2019, @02:12AM

            by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 01 2019, @02:12AM (#873824)

            Also in Oz [wikipedia.org].

  • (Score: 2) by Nobuddy on Thursday August 01 2019, @03:50PM

    by Nobuddy (1626) on Thursday August 01 2019, @03:50PM (#874071)