Amazon says Elon Musk's wicked, wicked ways mean SpaceX's Starlink 2.0 should not be allowed to fly
- Reference: 1631174292
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2021/09/09/amazon_musk_spacex_fcc_feud/
- Source link:
The [1]letter [PDF] opens with the following broadside:
Try to hold a Musk-led company to flight rules? You’re “fundamentally broken.” Try to hold a Musk-led company to health and safety rules? You’re “unelected & ignorant.” Try to hold a Musk-led company to U.S. securities laws? You’ll be called many names, some too crude to repeat.
The letter has a bibliography that explains the source of each of the above assertions.
The author, Andrew Keisner, lead counsel at Amazon's satellite broadband subsidiary Kuiper, next puts himself on the record with the following opinion:
Whether it is launching satellites with unlicensed antennas, launching rockets without approval, building an unapproved launch tower, or re-opening a factory in violation of a shelter-in-place order, the conduct of SpaceX and other Musk-led companies makes their view plain: rules are for other people , and those who insist upon or even simply request compliance are deserving of derision and ad hominem attacks.
The point of the insults is to attack SpaceX's recent [2]letter [PDF] to the FCC that accuses Amazon/Kuiper of using delaying tactics to mask its own difficulties securing FCC approval for its proposed broadband satellite constellation.
SpaceX is attempting to win approval for a new constellation of 30,000 broadband satellites that will use low Earth orbits. Amazon/Kuiper argues that SpaceX's plans are both unfair and invalid because it's asking for approval of two different configurations without committing to either.
Amazon therefore argues that SpaceX must submit one plan and one plan only, and that the FCC is bound to consider only such a unitary plan.
[3]
The e-tail and cloud colossus also argues that SpaceX's application stifles competition.
[4]
[5]
"Forcing both the Commission and interested parties to grapple with the interference concerns posed by two separate configurations doubles the technical effort of every operator faced with the task of reviewing the interference and orbital debris concerns raised by SpaceX's amendment," Amazon has argued.
Elon Musk's response to Amazon's objections appeared, inevitably, on Twitter.
Turns out Besos retired in order to pursue a full-time job filing lawsuits against SpaceX … — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) [6]August 27, 2021
Amazon's letter ends by asking the FCC to apply its rules and make SpaceX file a proper proposal.
"Amazon asks that the Commission show SpaceX that the rules apply to it as well,” it states. "This – and only this – will free all those involved to return to the real work of closing the digital divide."
[7]
Amazon is, of course, not without some regulation-bending history of its own, such as its [8]flouting of French privacy laws and [9]advertising-related naughtiness that the European Union believes merits a €746 million ($882M) fine. The company has also allegedly indulged in a little light [10]price fixing and has admitted to [11]locking up the audiobook market in concert with Apple.
We could go on, but you get the idea: Amazon is not averse to breaking rules here on Earth. And it has made very little progress in space – Kuiper hopes to start slinging sats in 2023, but SpaceX already has tens of thousands of customers for its Starlink satellite broadband service.
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[1] https://regmedia.co.uk/2021/09/09/amazon_spacex_letter.pdf
[2] https://regmedia.co.uk/2021/09/09/spacex_amazon_letter.pdf
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/legal&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2YTnbZa9Qth@KCNlvtA8DHwAAAMQ&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/legal&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YTnbZa9Qth@KCNlvtA8DHwAAAMQ&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/legal&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33YTnbZa9Qth@KCNlvtA8DHwAAAMQ&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1431126154195443714?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
[7] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/legal&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YTnbZa9Qth@KCNlvtA8DHwAAAMQ&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2020/12/11/amazon_google_french_fines/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2021/07/30/amazon_european_privacy_fine/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2021/05/25/amazon_antitrust_lawsuit_washington_dc/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2017/01/20/apple_amazon_to_break_up_audiobook_cabal/
[12] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
All this has happened before...
Tesla, Edison.... all we need now is a pandemic respiratory tract infection, a moribund economy and a crisis of confidence in western democracy ... oh dear, mine's the one with a copy of On Liberty in the pocket.
Corporation Tax
Figures, please? All reports I have read don't actually state how much profit was made, they instead choose to quote turnover. Corporation Tax is levied on profit, not turnover, but that apparently doesn't matter to journalists.
From the figures I saw, Amazon appear to be running at about 10% net profit, which sounds about right for the retail side.
GJC
Whilst Musk is no saint, he's clearly made much progress in space flight. Bezos' crew haven't gotten very far at all and are now using lawyers to try to hide their incompetence.
What's the saying? "If you can't beat 'em on the high street, strangle them in court"?
I think Bezos has a point. Musk's FCC application is vague. Other operators of satellite broadband, current or future need to know what SpaceX's constellation will be. It's a bit of a space-grab, potentially locking out other operators from the orbits and possibly spectrum.
AFAIK both SpaceX and Bezos's constellations are low LEO, and satellites kind of designed to fail, ie drag will eventually lead to de-orbiting and flaming satellites burning up. But given the huge number of satellites proposed by all operators, there seems to be a bigger risk of collisions, potentially creating a lot of debris that future launches would have to avoid.
I'm curious how treaties deal with this as it's a bit of a US orbit-grab. I know for geostationary satellites, treaties allocated slots to countries based on a use it or lose it policy. For LEOs, it seems more of a free for all, both in terms of altitude and spectrum allocation/usage.
The SpaceX application may or may not be to vague but that's for the FCC to accept or reject, not Bezos (though financial clout seems to matter more to US regulators rather than actual legal argument).
If Bezos and Musk dislike each other, so what? Let them squabble about their bits, sometimes that stimulates competition rather than stifling innovation (and irrespective of what you think about Musky, shaking the tree of rocket innovation seems to be his thing).
It's a sure sign that a corporation has accepted that they have been firmly beaten when they lawyer up.
GJC
But of course
Everyone should pay attention to Bezo. After all, he is the world expert on illegal and deceptive practices.
/s
"making life hell for unions" You say that like you think it's a bad thing...
Rules are for other people
If Amazon think they can swing public opinion by trotting out this little gem, they must be totally deranged by their success. Considering their attitude to rules about employee rights, taxation, competition and other such trivia, they are not exactly operating from any moral high ground.
This pathetic "my rocket's better than your rocket" nonsense will hopefully cheapen their ego trips in the minds of many. I hope this row becomes louder, more intense and ever more revealing of the personalities of the rich boys with their big toys....
Amazon is just showing off ...
its extensive range of black pots & kettles.
Summing up that letter
AK: Musk does bad stuff. Musk horrible. Musk rude.
Also AK: When he doesn't get his way, Musk resorts to ad-hominem attacks.
Pot, meet kettle.
Rather than screaming and throwing toys out of the pram, perhaps Bezos could build something sometime this decade with capabilities beyond what Mercury-Redstone achieved? The Vulcan rocket is delayed, waiting on Blue Origin engines. As if anyone needed any reminders of Bezos' wrongs, kicking and screaming legal action because they aren't competitive seems to be par for the course.
See also, Amazon paid just under 3% corporation tax on it's profits in the UK this year.