Starlink, SpaceX’s satellite Internet, does not allow torrent downloading

Starlink is getting closer to starting operations in Spain. It is already possible to sign up for the beta, and the service already has around 100,000 users around the world , the majority in the United States and Canada, who already enjoy speeds of even 300 Mbps . In addition, they already have almost 1,100 satellites. However, now users of the service can receive emails related to their activity on the Internet.

A Reddit user decided one day to torrent a movie. The movie that was downloaded was The Big Short , which was nominated for an Oscar for best picture of 2016, and won the Oscar for best adapted screenplay. It was downloaded using SpaceX’s satellite Internet network, but regardless that doing that in the United States is very dangerous.

Starlink, SpaceX's satellite Internet, does not allow torrent downloading

Starlink does not allow downloading pirte torrent

And it is that Starlink sent him an email stating that they had received a claim from a rights owner stating that a Starlink user had used his connection to download a movie of his without having the rights to do so. Thus, the company has to convey to the user the notification of copyright infringement.

Curiously, that is not the only problem, since apparently Starlink, in its Fair Use Policy , details that it is forbidden to download content without having a license or the right to do so. Therefore, they insist that they do not download protected content without a license , since, if not, they may receive a temporary suspension or the termination of the contract with Starlink, and even expose themselves to suffer legal repercussions by the owner of the content.

Another user started to download torrents without using a VPN to see what would happen, and received the same notification as the previous user, where we can see that downloading torrent with Starlink is prohibited. Depending on the torrent, some are not being monitored, while in others there are companies constantly pending new IPs that may appear to collect them and report them to the operators so that they notify users.

Will they do the same in Spain?

In Spain, the situation may be somewhat different. Starlink already has two companies registered in our country, and those companies will contact the CNMC in order to start offering services to users. Thus, Spanish law does not oblige an operator to notify a user if they have committed copyright infringements, unlike what happens in the United States, as we have seen. Therefore, it is likely that there will be no problem using Starlink in Spain despite using the same satellite network used in countries such as the United States.

In turn, the company could simply transfer its American policy to our country. This is in their own interest, as this will not saturate the satellites with traffic , since torrenting is usually one of the most intensive consumptions that can be made on the Internet, with a constant upload of content.

Despite this, it is best to protect yourself to avoid receiving these types of letters. To hide our identity on the network, it is best to use a VPN, since thanks to this the torrent network is seeing another IP address different from ours, and we will not receive a claim. It is important that it is a good VPN that does not filter the real IP in the event that a third party asks for it. It is also possible to use a seedbox, or resort to streaming content. The seedbox themselves usually offer this option to watch streaming content.