I might consider that Elon is not a black hat if someone could explain, in plain English, exactly why Starlink was/is a good idea and how it makes a tidy profit over the alternatives. It also should be noted that Alphabet (Google) is a major investor in Starlink.
Like any tech, it can be used for good or evil.
I can't speak to whether or not Elon is a "black hat" as you put it but there are good reasons for Star link as a service.
why Starlink was/is a good idea
Unlike other satellite internet services Star link is in a lower orbit so it has lower latency and is less affected by weather. Many places throughout the world are too rural for it to make practical sense to run cable
how it makes a tidy profit over the alternatives
It probably doesn't yet. That's nothing new for Big Tech. Google was a decade old before they even started to think of monetization and Twitter still struggles with that to this day. The business model doesn't require instant profit, it requires the acquisition of a large part of the market share first.
Alphabet (Google) is a major investor in Starlink
Alphabet has their hands in practically everything. Simply being invested doesn't mean that they have any power over the companies decision making.
Again, I can't speak to what kind of person Elon is. Being a Billionaire, I assume he has made a lot of morally dubious decisions over the years. The important thing right now is that he is VERY publicly declaring to be a "Free Speech Absolutist". He is making moves that would appear to support this position. That makes him an ally, at least for now and at least where speech is concerned. I am afraid it doesn't get much better than that at the moment.
It wouldn't surprise me if the launches of the starlink constellation were written off as testing or R&D, and beyond the costs to operate the uplink and headends, it's pure profit.
It's interesting how much the government will let you get away with on taxes if you follow the (admittedly complex) rule book.
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