Much of the news in tech lately has been about the take down of Megaupload and the pending attack by the Department of Justice against a Megaupload clone Hotfile, or at least according to the DoJ it is. However as expected, and predicted by many of the people who keep an eye on this area of technology the overall impact of these shutdowns is extremely questions.
As hard as the entertainment industry trade groups like MPAA, using the DoJ as their law enforcement proxy, try to close these file-sharing sites down human ingenuity will always find a way to circumvent these actions.
This is the whole idea behind a project by NYU art professor David Darts and his PirateBox project, the idea being that you could create a private WiFi based file sharing network that could be started at the drop of a hat and any time or any place.
The original PirateBox was housed in a fair sized metal ‘lunchbox’ type case and cost around $100 to set up and get running.
The newest incarnation is much smaller and costs a lot less at $50.00 which puts the PirateBox in the price range that anyone, including your grandmother, can afford.
The huge price cut has been made possible by using new hardware, specifically the TP-LINKTL-MR3020 3G Wireless N Router, available from Newegg at just $39.99. Once obtained, all people have to do is follow the PirateBox installation instructions here, insert a USB stick full of files and power on.
via TorrentFreak
Here is a demo of the new version of the PirateBox in action.
