Elon Musk-founded SpaceX Corp. has sent a cease-and-desist notice to the B2B sales listings platform IndiaMART for unauthorised listings of consumer terminals of its Starlink satellite internet system, the company said in an email. The company also said it notified the Indian government about the listings, and clarified that these were not authorised resellers.
The move comes after The Hindu reported last week that even as the firm awaits a Global Mobile Personal Communication System (GMPCS) authorisation in India, some businesses have started advertising the product, in a possible security risk.
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Michael Nicolls, Vice President of Starlink Engineering at SpaceX, said in a reply on X to The Hindu’s earlier story that “[t]here are many fake resellers of @starlink terminals, such as those on @IndiaMART,” urging consumers to not be “duped” by fake listings.
However, in its email to The Hindu, SpaceX was careful to not rule out that the listings, while unauthorised, could be legitimate: the company said that it had reached out to IndiaMART about users “falsely claiming to or attempting to illegally sell” Starlink equipment online.
A spokesperson for IndiaMART had told The Hindu last week that it does not publish listings on its website on its own, or facilitate transactions; the firm says it only facilitates advertisements by sellers, connecting them with buyers. The spokesperson did not have an immediate comment late Tuesday evening on SpaceX’s cease and desist letter.
