Pirate Parties Plan To Shoot Site Into Orbit 301
palmerj3 writes "It is almost four years ago that The Pirate Bay announced they wanted to buy the micronation of Sealand, so they could host their site without having to bother about copyright law — an ambitious plan that turned out to be unaffordable. This week, Pirate Parties worldwide started brainstorming about a similarly ambitious plan. Instead of founding their own nation, they want to shoot a torrent site into orbit."
Great idea! (Score:5, Funny)
Dear Pirate Party,
Thank you for donating targets to us. We've been meaning to test our Space Object Destruction Laser®, but haven't found any suitable object to target. Because of your charity, we can now witness the firepower of this fully armed and operation system.
Sincerely,
The United States of America
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It may come to that. It occurs to me that at some point governments are going to have to agree on methods to control extra-governmental forces like the Pirate Party/Bay, Wikileaks and even Al Qaeda.
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It may come to that. It occurs to me that at some point governments are going to have to agree on methods to control extra-governmental forces like the Pirate Party/Bay, Wikileaks and even Al Qaeda.
Interesting try: Link two organizations that are fighting for freedom with one known for terror and bestiality. Do you have an agenda or did you just got too much tea?
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Bestiality? I didn't know that Al Qaeda was known for intercourse with livestock. Do you have access to secret intelligence? Wikileaks might be interested.
Re:Great idea! (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Great idea! (Score:4, Funny)
Al Queda? I just assumed the rape charges agaist the Wikileaks guy had taken a bizarre turn ...
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I think we've already heard enough about Julian Assange's private life.
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You forgot the most powerful extra-governmental force: The people.
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Yeah.
Launching a torrent site into space is about as secure as sailing your boat near the international waters surrounding Somalia.
This idea is about as half baked as my dinner last night.
Re:Great idea! (Score:5, Funny)
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I'd say they're more like Corsairs.
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This idea is about as half baked as my dinner last night.
uh... You wife is a bad cook?
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Or wives....WE have grlfrnds.
Is that who stole your vowels?
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You assumed I was married before you assumed I could be a bad cook?
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You assumed I was married before you assumed I could be a bad cook?
Well there's your first problem.
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They could, however, allow it to stay in one piece and disable it some other way. Extremely powerfull and very directed EM radiation would fry all it's circuits for example.
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It is as though millions of users cried out in terror and suddenly had their torrents cut off.
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I felt a great disturbance in the Torrent, as if millions of seeds suddenly cried out in 404 and were suddenly silenced. I fear something corporate has happened.
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I think the point is that there is no reason for NSA not to hack the satellite and use it for their own purposes--because, hey, free com satellite.
Destroying copyright from orbit (Score:5, Funny)
It's the only way to be sure...
How long will this last? (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:How long will this last? (Score:4, Informative)
Probably only slightly longer than it would have taken for them to get overthrown had they bought Sealand ... which is actually under British rule, regardless of how much they want to pretend its not.
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Re:How long will this last? (Score:5, Insightful)
Here's the thing: every territory is under the rule of whomever shows up with the most guns.
Laws are only tangentially relevant.
A satelite, or a territory is dumb anyway, because to be any use, either one would need a link to the rest of the internet -- and they'd need to get that from some nation -- at which point the LINK is subject to the jurisdiction of that nation.
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Lucky for them space lacks enough of the required 'air' for either of those weapon platforms to effectively work.
Surface-To-Space, Air-To-Space, Space-To-Space..... now we're talking. Those ASAT and other devices have systems for trajectory control without the need of fins or aerodynamic tricks.
Re:How long will this last? (Score:4, Interesting)
Well, testing of surface to LEO missiles will probably not happen - it endangers everything else up there with all the debris. And any explosions themselves will send pieces into new unpredictable orbits as well.
Unless one doesn't have many satellites up there already, shooting down a satellite has the effect of endangering your own satellites as well. I'm sure the DoD would be highly amused should one of their covert satellites get destroyed from space junk caused by testing of said missile.
The only way is if NASA gets funding to do space junk cleanup and they "accidentally" do too good a job.
I think we're probably close to a critical mass of space junk - where one stray piece crashes into satellites and the satellite's pieces cause more collisions. Practically overnight we'd go from satellites everywhere to having nothing but fine mists of dust - a man-made ring like Saturn or something.
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Well, testing of surface to LEO missiles will probably not happen - it endangers everything else up there with all the debris. And any explosions themselves will send pieces into new unpredictable orbits as well.
So you're saying that big content taking a heavy handed approach to piracy would be short-sighted, stupid, be a waste of money, and would just create more problems? Why does that sound familiar?
Simple (Score:2, Funny)
Just park it right next to (or better still, in front of) one of HBO's satellites.
The US govt wouldn't risk upsetting one of their investors.
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The price has really come down, we aren't talking about putting a shuttle up there.
On the list of crazy, there are better entries. http://www.copenhagensuborbitals.com/index.php [copenhagen...bitals.com]
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Never. The thing about space is, there isn't much air for X-to-air missiles.
Now, if you mean a surface-to-space or air-to-space missile, probably not. The things are expensive and weapons in space are kind of a big deal. When you take out a satellite everyone knows.
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I was always so pissed that "History of the World Part 2" never saw the light of day :/
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Fuck yes! (Score:3, Funny)
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Sadly the evil plot will most likely involve less-than-ingenious 'space terrorists' nowadays, 'pirates', 'rebels' and 'resistance' are words of the past...
Re:Fuck yes! (Score:5, Funny)
Space Pirates!
Space Pirates in Arrrrbit. It had to be said.
Uhhhhh. (Score:5, Insightful)
Comment removed (Score:5, Insightful)
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Re:Uhhhhh. (Score:4, Funny)
what's the country code for space?
Re:Uhhhhh. (Score:5, Funny)
what's the country code for space?
%20
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Maybe an informal network of ad-hoc uplinks could help diversify that risk.
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There are plenty of solutions for this. One of the earliest implementations suggested was the DVB multiprotocol encapsulation standard, which is still used by a few satellite operators such as ASTRA (you'd need a satellite dish and a modem to get the streams though); also, check out the more recent DVB-SH standards, that enable handheld devices to get satellite IP data as well -- obviously you don't need a dish for those.
I would paste a few links if I could but the new Slashdot interface is preventing me
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I could picture this working a couple of ways.
First, let's assume you can only put up one satellite. Let's also assume it's placed in geosynchronous orbit. We'll talk about bandwidth/latency later. Consider that, this one satellite could be visible to nearly all of Europe. Or a large portion of the US, or half of Africa. These are very broad regions. You now have the ability to completely decentralize the torrent seed hubs. Multiple enthusiasts with the proper antenna + radio cards could become down-link's
Expect it to be shot down almost instantly (Score:2)
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That used to be the same on the internet. Eventually that will change as well.
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Why?
Unless everyone using it sets up their own uplink, its sure as hell easier to block their connectivity.
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Since there are 'no rules' in space, expect this satellite to be destroyed in a matter of minutes after gaining orbit.
Wrong, Obey gravity, it's the law!
Re:Expect it to be shot down almost instantly (Score:4, Informative)
There are rules in space [wikipedia.org].
It's highly unlikely that a national government would expend the military and technical resources necessary to shoot down a satellite, not to mention draw international ire, merely for the sake of placating the copyright lobby. They're big players, but there are limits to even Disney's power.
It's far more likely that a pirate satellite would encourage the copyright cartel to push to expand existing laws to make them more iron-clad regardless of jurisdiction. The Pirate Bay would gain a temporary advantage, but it would likely backfire over the long haul.
Oh, but the ARE rules in space. (Score:4, Interesting)
The reason that space isn't weapon laden is that they Russians and the US signed treaties keeping it a "demilitarized zone."
That means that its meant for use strictly as for observation, (look down for photon coming up,) rather than shooting down.
Even the Chinese signed the treaty because they see the wisdom behind it.
You can't defend yourself from space based "bolides" (which can strike the planet like the "Hammer of Thor" without needing to be anything other than heavy and headed in the right direction.)
Such a weapon could be built now and use "space resources" (asteroids and comets conveniently placed in a wide belt between Mars and Jupiter,) and some long-term guidance for an automated system to crash a world-changing million ton hunk of dirt and ice into this planet.
Its enough to discourage anyone knowing that after a war the loser could still "drop the hammer" on you a generation after you though it was all over and you'd won.
Money (Score:2)
Cost (Score:2)
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Re:Cost (Score:4, Insightful)
The only reason anyone would buy that pile of crap for a billion dollars is because they wanted to do some heavily illegal shit on it, otherwise they'd go buy some tropical private island for 1% of the cost. Since Britain would never allow that sort of thing to go down within their territorial waters, any potential buyer is essentially spending a metric assload of money for a fairy tale.
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Sure, they say it's independent, but the only reason they're allowed to carry on thinking that is because they aren't doing anything illegal enough for the Brits to make the effort to enforce their rule.
How is shooting at the royal Navy and other ships not a crime they would be forced to respond to? In fact the Brits called it an 'act of terrorism', which is sufficient reason to invade some counties nowadays... And as I recall they were taken to court in 1968, and won because Britain did not have jurisdiction.
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Basically, this website wants to start a space program on their site revenues of what, a couple hundred thousand a year for ad space? Good luck. Maybe I'll start my own space program too.
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I don't know about currently, but I think the first one was launched about a decade ago. There are lots of ham radio satellites currently operating.
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Your missing the micro-sat market. You and 500 other groups buy a small payload on a larger system going into space. It'll deploy your payload. Booking the right type of orbit and not blowing up in the first 10 minutes is the trick.
Also, with as many private companies now testing different space access systems, the dream of 100lbs for 1million to GEO orbit is quickly approaching.....
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Ocean platforms are pretty expensive. Launching satellites is much less so. There are quite a few ham radio satellites, for example: http://www.qsl.net/w8dro/ [qsl.net].
Or: (Score:2, Troll)
You could just buy the DVDs of whatever movie/show you wish to see. It would certainly be less expensive than this "space" plan.
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>>>Feedback on this comment system?
It sucks. I hate this dynamic index.
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But it would be considerably less awesome. DVDs or shooting shit into space. Hmmm, which would I choose.
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I have no problems buying media, but its become to the point where in order to actually use what you paid for you end up breaking the law in some way or another.
When pira
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(shrug)
I just watch the ads. It's easier and less time-consuming.
Take Fallout 3 (Score:5, Interesting)
Why not? Benelux distributor does not carry it. It does for the PS3 and the 360 but NOT the PC version. Why? Other CE's are carried but not this on.
So, I am going to pirate the game. That way I get all the extra's, all the special packs from various shops, and zero cost and zero hassle to me.
FUCK YOU content industry, when you actually make it impossible to buy products, my limit is reached.
And yes, it is the game companies that are to blame for the distributor. Who on earth thought it was a good idea to give exclusivity for a region? How are market forces supposed to act with monopolies? No competition, single supplier, no choice. My hard earned money should support this? Nope.
Stop fucking up your customers and maybe people like me would actually buy stuff. But if you don't even put it in the stuff, what am I supposed to do?
And if you claim I should import, you just don't get it do you, why should I jump through hoops, to give someone else money? It would be like the supermarket putting up a moat, daring me to come in and spend anything at pain of death.
Song of the South (Score:2)
You could just buy the DVDs of whatever movie/show you wish to see.
If it's available in your region. If it's available in any region. Where can I buy an authentic copy of Song of the South on DVD?
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The frickin shows I want to see is not available in stores, unless months afterwards, dubbed by people who don't understand the poorly translated references the translator did not get; DVD is an obsolete technology, sometimes I download the content of a DVD I own because it's inconvenient to manipulate the disk; DVDs are at the store, internet is at my home.
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You could just buy the DVDs of whatever movie/show you wish to see. It would certainly be less expensive than this "space" plan.
Especially if you buy them from the guy on the corner that sells them out of a cardboard box for $1.
Pirates in orbit? (Score:2)
And when the orbit decays (Score:3, Funny)
get ready for one hell of a server crash
Its weird... (Score:3, Funny)
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Somehow I feel way less sympathy for these guys now that I can afford to just buy the games I want... weird.
Try buying and installing those games. Your sympathy will return shortly.
just relocating the problem (Score:4, Insightful)
The location of the hardware where the data is stored is only a part of the challenge they face. Whether you put it on a platform in international waters, on a seagoing vessel, in orbit, or even on a sovereign planetoid, for it to be of use to terra-bound, law-bound consumers you need a communications link to that site, and one end of that link is going to be subject to the laws of whatever state the consumer is in.
Tracker on the Northern Sea? (Score:2)
It's too bad that Sealand was unaffordable, but what about some of the greek islands that were up for sale?
I'm certain that this would have better latency...
It also reminds me of all the 'pirate' radio stations operation from the Northern Sea, have things changed since then? Should be much cheaper to run a tracker from there, maybe even rent some bandwidth from nearby oil rigs or the fibers under the sea - a much more viable option in my view...
In Space.... (Score:2)
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No one except Chuck Norris
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In Space No One Can Hear You Download.
It's also the perfect place for wikileaks.
Unnecessary (Score:2)
Since the problem as I understand it is maintaining a list of torrents one could simply use a system such as http://offsystem.sourceforge.net/ [sourceforge.net]
Bad pun (Score:2)
Outer Space Treaty (Score:5, Informative)
Won't work. Read the Outer Space Treaty [wikipedia.org], specifically Article VI. (full text: http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Outer_Space_Treaty_of_1967#Article_VI [wikisource.org])
In short: if it's launched from Country X, Country X has responsibility for it, whether it was launched by the Country X government or just by some wacky idealists who live there. In practice, this means that spacecraft are no more outside of national laws than seagoing ships are.
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Oh, Article VIII puts it more directly:
"A State Party to the Treaty on whose registry an object launched into outer space is carried shall retain jurisdiction and control over such object, and over any personnel thereof, while in outer space or on a celestial body."
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What if they manage to launch from the middle of the Atlantic or some similar idea?
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This is why they need to launch it from a ship, which itself was built by another ship, from international waters.
If that doesn't work, I have these schematics for a giant wooden badger.
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Funny you'd use that analogy, since we're talking about the Pirate Party.
Pirate ships are still operating in 2010, even though we can know the location of every surface vessel anywhere in the world on a 24/7 basis. Sea piracy is just as illegal as ever, but it still happens.
Knowing that a crime is taking place is different than having the desire/willpower/money/time/etc to do anything about it.
A satellite i
Re:Sealaunch? (Score:4, Informative)
In the case of Sea Launch, the U.S. requires that American individuals or corporations obtain a license to launch from the FAA, whether they're launching within the U.S. or not. Interesting article on all the legal ramifications here [elsevier.com].
Other countries likely have similar rules. But it just proves the overall point: whether the legally-sketchy activities take place in space or in international waters, whoever is controlling those activities generally lives in an actual country, and the laws of that country can be brought to bear against them.
Sealand (Score:3, Interesting)
What happened of the money people donated to buy it?
Here's what would happen (Score:2)
SneakerNet (Score:5, Interesting)
Someone else pointed out that if you're this far gone, it's time to stop using the internet then for your traffic.
Not to mention that for the millions of dollars needed, as well as manpower, to put something like this into orbit you could instead "AOL" it, by sending every human on earth a CDROM (or DVD) with pirated warez on it.
Want to make a statement? Use the postal system. Make every human a "evil hacker" by giving them a DVD full of stuff the MAFFIA don't want you to have.
Think: If during prohibition, if Al Capone had given away liquor, Amendment 18 would have been repealed a lot quicker.
There is no police force large enough to arrest every man, woman and child on planet earth.
Wouldn't it be simpler... (Score:5, Interesting)
...and cheaper to just set up their own micronation platform using something like http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Making_an_Island/Construction_Guides [wikibooks.org]? All they'd need is a relatively shallow site not in territorial waters. A (largely) unmanned site could be left sealed tight when heavy weather is coming, and could otherwise be maintained by a couple of guys. Armed guys, copyright law being what it is. But, hey, machine guns would be legal! http://www.ncc-1776.org/tle2010/tle551-20100103-03.html [ncc-1776.org]
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Target practice, for satellite killing systems.
And if it doesn't explode, you just weaponized them.