Pirate organization wants to run a torrent site from the sky

[Matthew DeCarlo]

With the entertainment industry determined to stop filesharers, countless torrent sites have collapsed under the pressure and many survivors are arguably biding their time. For years, sites like The Pirate Bay have been considering ways to sidestep the legal system, such as buying the micronation of Sealand. That venture proved to be too expensive, but filesharers haven't given up on dodging copyright law and the Pirate Parties International (PPI) may have found a solution.

PPI is the umbrella organization of the Pirate Party movement (active in nearly 50 countries), and some of its members are mulling the possibility of running a filesharing site from the sky. "We plan to use some kind of balloon and try to keep it up in the air for as long as possible," said Swedish engineer Erik Lönroth. Someone also suggested running a site from a satellite in space.

No matter the vessel or altitude, operating a star-bound site from Earth would be a daunting task -- financially, legally and technically. Assuming they scraped the funds together and launched a site into orbit, it could still be disconnected if its bandwidth provider received a takedown notice. Not to mention how difficult it would be to perform physical repairs on the server.

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/40794-pirate-organization-wants-to-run-a-torrent-site-from-the-sky.html

 

[bakape]

Love the nonsense! Would be even more amusing if the balloon actually stayed up for a couple years hehe

 

[princeton]

What if they went to look for an uncharted island and hosted it there?

 

[Flamezgeek]

i'm really excited about the idea. A ballon?? I wonder how this will works.

 

[captaincranky]

What if they went to look for an uncharted island and hosted it there?

I had thought that Pitcairn Island was one of the last of those, and it was only charted incorrectly.

The fact of the matter is, that to claim sovereignty over any territory, you'd have to chart it anyway. Then there's the issue of a standing army to defend it.

That said, it's never where you shoot an arrow, it's where it lands that retains jurisdiction. So, with a satellite in position, and incidentally I think you need at least 3 in geocentric orbit for global coverage, you would also need your own separate internet. After which, you might run afoul of intelligence agencies who are just dying to eavesdrop on anything that even seem remotely clandestine. After that, an accidental EM pulse from a military satellite might put a damper on the festivities. You want plausible deniability? Coming right up, sunspots killed your satellites...!

Sci-fi or outright paranoia, maybe, but I doubt it.

Facts are facts, and the expenditure to overcome the logistics of these aspirations, would be more expensive than simply going out a buying the product. After all, the reason commonly given for stealing copyrighted material, "it's garbage to begin with". Well, shooting a pirate website into space, seems like an awful lot of trouble to go to, to steal trash. Prima facie, the whole scheme sounds like a pack of internet trolls with paranoid delusions of grandeur.

The only "balloons" that would have proved beneficial, would be the free condoms that should have been provided to their parents.

 

[Archean]

The only "balloons" that would have proved beneficial, would be the free condoms that should have been provided to their parents.

Couldn't agree with you more

In addition, someone can just shoot their balloon with a gun or something, making it 'unsafe for flight'; so it doesn't seems to be the best idea anyway.

On a more serious note, I think companies need to adopt pricing model which suites targeted markets, making piracy much less of an attraction for general public; which incidentally no one wants to do as it will 'reduce' their profits.

 

[gwailo247]

Archean said:
On a more serious note, I think companies need to adopt pricing model which suites targeted markets, making piracy much less of an attraction for general public; which incidentally no one wants to do as it will 'reduce' their profits.

They already do that, its just that pirates will always present a cheaper alternative. If it costs $20, they'll sell for $10, if its costs $2, they'll sell for $1. Once you get past the cost of the media, which really is pennies, profit is almost limtless.

Software makers have no incentive no lower prices, games keep getting sold in record numbers. For that matter, people are pre-ordering games, sight unseen, for full retail value. Oh no piracy boo hoo, oh wait Modern Warfare 2 made more money than Titanic...

 

[LinkedKube]

This read wasn't too bad. I'd rather have nasa having astronauts repairing this "balloon," than hoping their space walk certified beer works.

 

[Guest]

Why not run a pirate site from a ship at sea? Or perhaps and old off shore oil platform. Solar cells and wind power with battery back up might work. Or perhaps an off shore wave generation platform. Might have to hire an army to keep the Massad from assassinating you though.

 

[Guest]

The irony of the above post is that they would have to contend with real pirates.

 

[Guest]

Balloons? so you are in someones airspace at some time... fighter - missile - down.
Ship at sea ? sub - torpedo - down.
Uncharted / unclaimed island ? ship / sub /plane - missle - bad day.
Satellite ? That would be some BIG bucks and easily put out with missile / EM Pulse.

I think it's all bs and any government that had something to loose would take it out.

More likely scenario would be to run from a country that was willing to take a cut (probably very big cut) and not care about international community. There are fair number of those, some with enough clout to prevent any kind of attack. Of course these countries may want all the profits for themselves and do it on their own.

Too bad the crooks have it so tough, I'll get my Kleenex out to wipe my tears away.

 

[Archean]

@gwail

They do it, but what I meant was to do it according to 'buying power' of each market selectively; and frankly it isn't easy thing to do, I will admit that.

The irony of the above post is that they would have to contend with real pirates.

Probably, but how the real pirates will run the infrastructure they may confiscate upon non-payment of ransom ?

 

[milford50]

This is utter geekness, i guess air space too has some regional regulations.

 

[captaincranky]

This idea exemplifies why the geek thought process and hallucinogenic drugs should never be mixed. Well, at least not in the quantities this crew apparently has.

The leech portion of their following, should stay away from LSD as well. Too much of that, and they'll be outside staring at the sun saying, "oooo, look at the pirate balloon"...!

 

[TorturedChaos]

Well this was good for a nice laugh this morning lol

 

[Guest]

This technology will not go away, how about the governments all stop spending millions of the tax payer's monies attempting to stop it and let the free market do it's thing.

 

[jazboy]

There are some genuine user of torrent but because of pirate they are also loosing.

 

[crazyboy88]

wooooOOO!!!! go torrents
Torrents are the only way I can watch TV shows... it's not like those shows are available in our TV network

 

[captaincranky]

The Pirate Balloon Arrives at "Fantasy Island".......

Tattoo looks toward the heavens and says,"de plane boss, de plane"..........! Mr. Roarke turns to him and says emphatically.....,"no stupid,, that's a weather balloon". "Now run along and see if you can shoot it down".

 

[Guest]

While the pirate party did raise some very good points, I do think they seriously need to reconsider their name if they want to get further than that.

 

[oasis789]

stop hating! the pirates are a powerful force for privacy and freedom of speech. their motivations may not be pure but they do a good service for all

 

[captaincranky]

stop hating! the pirates are a powerful force for privacy and freedom of speech. their motivations may not be pure but they do a good service for all

Oh, and what "service" is that, I prithee tell me? Is it stealing copyrighted material and providing it for you to download?

That's really one person's opinion, and a very subjective one at that.

Go fly a kite! (Don't forget to attach a server to it).

 

[poertner_1274]

Very interesting . Unfortunately there is always going to be some way that a government/governing body will get in the way of such high aspirations. it's inevitable. You can think outside the box as much as you want to come up with new and innovative solutions, but in the end it will all be for naught as they will find a way to shut you down. Oh well, I applaud their think tank for being creative.

 

[Archean]

Go fly a kite! (Don't forget to attach a server to it).

He may need to devise an system which supply power to this server through wireless means or air oh well never mind; he can simply use lightening, free but not always available where you may need it.

On a more pragmatic note, I think they'll be better off rushing to the moon, claiming it as their colony, and start running their pirate empire from there, because I can't think of any 'earthen' law which may cover that aspect.

 

[captaincranky]

On a more pragmatic note, I think they'll be better off rushing to the moon, claiming it as their colony, and start running their pirate empire from there, because I can't think of any 'earthen' law which may cover that aspect.

Once upon a time there was a sci-fi magazine called, "Omni". Of which I believe that Larry Flint was the publisher, but that's a different story altogether.

Anyway, Omni ran a story entitled, The Marching Morons", the premise of which was that the population had been "inbred" to the point of uselessness, so they were duped into thinking that there was, "free land on Venus", and subsequently loaded into rockets and shot into space.

Me, I'm thinkin' that Venus would be a prime location for a pirate server. Start pumping the hydrazine and liquid oxygen, you're going for a ride boys and girls....