PirateBox

PirateBox

Original logo of the PirateBox
Introduced 2011
Ports USB
Language English

A PirateBox is a portable electronic device, often consisting of a Wi-Fi router and a device for storing information, creating a wireless network that allows users who are connected to share files anonymously and locally. By definition, this device is disconnected from the Internet.

The PirateBox was originally designed to exchange data freely under the public domain or under a free license.

History

The PirateBox was designed in 2011 by David Darts, a professor at the Steinhardt School of Culture, Education and Human Development at New York University under Free Art License. It has been highly popularized in Western Europe since, particularly in France by Jean Debaecker, and its development is largely maintained by Matthias Strubel.[1] The usage of the PirateBox-Concept turns slowly away from common local filesharing to purposes in education, concerning public schools[2] or private events like CryptoParties[3] a crucial point also being circumvention of censorship[4] since it can be operated behind strong physical barriers.

Set up

The easiest and cheapest setup can be built with a TP-Link Wi-Fi router and a USB flash drive. As of version 1.0, there is an improved installation path, with only a few steps followed by an automatic install.[5]

Uses

Users connect to the PirateBox in Wi-Fi (using a laptop, for example) without having to learn the password. They then launch software web browser, which will display the web page of the local PirateBox and so by means of web applications allow them to download or upload files, use the system of instant messaging available and post messages on the forum. All these data exchanges are confined to PirateBox and are unrelated to the Internet.[6]

Several educational projects use them to deliver content to students allowing them to share by chat or forum. The PirateBox is also used in places where Internet access is rare, such as African villages.

Devices which can be diverted to a PirateBox

Wi-Fi routers

Not an exhaustive list:

The PirateBox official wiki has an up to date hardware-list of compatible devices.[13]

See also

When online is offline

References

  1. ↑ "PirateBox Takes File-Sharing Off The Radar and Offline, For Next To Nothing". TorrentFreak. 2012-03-11. Retrieved 2015-11-01.
  2. ↑
  3. ↑ "Frankfurt - CryptoParty". Besva.de. Retrieved 2015-11-01.
  4. ↑ "Create your own version of The Pirate Bay". The Hindu. 2013-11-26. Retrieved 2015-11-01.
  5. ↑ "openwrt:diy [ PIRATEBOX ]". Piratebox.de. 2015-08-13. Retrieved 2015-11-01.
  6. ↑ Anderson, Nate (2011-01-31). "PirateBox: an “artistic provocation” in lunchbox form". Ars Technica. Retrieved 2015-11-01.
  7. ↑ "Fun2Code: PirateBox". Fun2code-blog.blogspot.de. Retrieved 2015-11-01.
  8. ↑ "PirateBox - Android Apps on Google Play". Play.google.com. Retrieved 2015-11-01.
  9. ↑ "Run PirateBox on your Laptop from USB [Linux PirateBoxLive]". Forum.daviddarts.com. Retrieved 2015-11-01.
  10. ↑ "raspberry_pi [ PIRATEBOX ]". Piratebox.cc. 2014-11-22. Retrieved 2015-11-01.
  11. ↑ "PirateBox DIY – OpenWrt by David Darts". Daviddarts.com. Retrieved 2015-11-01.
  12. ↑ "openwrt:hardware_firmware_recommendations [Matthias' Piratebox-Scripts]". Piratebox.aod-rpg.de. 2014-05-30. Retrieved 2015-11-01.
  13. ↑ "openwrt:hardware [ PIRATEBOX ]". Piratebox.cc. Retrieved 2015-11-01.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Wednesday, December 30, 2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.