Abandon Ship!

The most popular piracy site on the Internet, the Pirate Bay, is going down. Like Napster, it will be sold to a company who is planning to convert it into a legal service (read: paysite). The news came somewhat unexpected as the site kept running even after the infamous police raid of 2006 and the recent conviction by a Swedish court.

It's pretty sad that the iconic Pirate Bay, who was so bravely resisting the wicked attacks upon her, will soon cease to exist. There are rumours that the media industry is behind all of this. The deal will give the Pirate Bay owners a way of paying their fines while the media industry can make sure that the site is taken down without having to wait for the end of the trial - which could take several years.

But the real question now is "what's next"? File sharing has not started with the Pirate Bay, it also will not end with it. There will be a new flagship for the anti-copyright movement. There always is. And every time it has been stronger than the previous one.

Liberty leading the people

It's amazing to see the courage of the Iranian women during the recent protests in Tehran. One girl called Neda even paid with her life for taking a stand against the regime. We can only hope that her death was not in vain and that the people in Iran, especially the women, can finally overcome the oppression.















Edit: I added some more pictures and exchanged the others for higher resolution versions, taken from The Big Picture where a lot of other pictures from the Iran election can be found. Additionaly, I chose to exchange the photoshopped middle finger picture for the unaltered original and decided to also include a picture of Neda - as gruesome as it is, it just wasn't right to exclude it.

Internet censorship

Much has happended during the last days. Not only is the Pirate Party of Germany now represented in the federal parliament after a former member of the social democrats, Jörg Tauss, switched sides over a dispute on internet censorship. But we also have seen a practical example on how internet censorship works during the recent protests in Iran. Even in Iran, which is much more repressive than our western democracies, it is impossible to suppress information. Just check out #iranelection on twitter, the news comes in so fast, it's impossible to read everything.

But the development in Iran does not only prove that it is impossible to enforce censorship on the internet, it also shows that liberty cannot be taken for granted. It has to be defended against the government, e.g. by joining Tor or Freenet.

Linux on a stick

Before setting up my new server, I decided to prepare a USB drive with an Ubuntu Live installer.

There are numerous advantages over a CD. A USB drive can easily be carried around, e.g. on a keychain, so we will always have access to our Ubuntu Live system. Updating it is as easy as copying the new version to the drive. There is no need to burn a new CD. The particular setup I used also allows for modifications to be saved to the drive. It's no longer necessary to change the keyboard settings everytime the system is booted. Even more important is the ability to install additional software on the stick. This allows us to use it as a rescue system in situations where there is no Internet access available but special software packages or drivers are necessary to access the crashed system.

Basically, I just followed the guide "A better way to create a customized USB drive with Ubuntu Live on it". Please take note of the comment at the bottom of the page as I encountered the same problem and had to use menu.lst instead of grub.conf for it to work. I only deviated from the guide in one way: I reserved most of the space of the USB drive for an encrypted filesystem. But this will be a topic for another article.

There is also an automated way to install Ubuntu on the USB drive, but then the whole space of the drive is used with no option to add an encrypted partition later on.

Avast, ye scallywags!

The Intertubes remind me a little bit of international waters. There is no single state that holds control and they both belong to all of mankind.

This doesn't mean that there is lack of jurisdiction though. At sea, a ship is considered to be part of the jurisdiction of it's flag state. Likewise, on the Internet, the jurisdiction is determined by the physical location of the computer and can be tracked by it's IP address.

As of this writing, most countries have implemented at least some form of Internet censorship and computer surveillance, more often than not to "protect our freedom". In addition to this, the entertainment industry is actively engaged in the Copyright War, hunting filesharers all over the world.

But what if we want to protect our freedom on our own? Well, people who do are commonly called pirates, and I have decided to become one of them.

But first things first. In order to become a real pirate, it is inevitable to obtain some basic equipment:

Pirate hat

The attire can be anything "piraty", like a pirate hat, eyepatch, sash, boots or a geeky shirt with the Jolly Roger on it.

Parrot

While the talking parrot on the shoulder is one of the most recognizable symbols for a pirate, other pets are permitted too. I decided to go with my dwarf hamster, Crunch. He's an expert in plundering edible stuff.

Ship

The vehicle depends mostly on the environment and the budget. At sea, you can take anything that floats, like a ship, boat or even a raft. Land based pirates can choose between different cars, tanks and motorbikes. A bicycle can also be sufficient if there are budget constraints. However, a vehicle of any kind is a must. That's what differentiates a pirate from a hobo.

Jolly Roger

The pirate flag. Sailing without it is like walking on the streets without wearing any pants. In both cases, people will laugh at you and throw with garbage.

Wench

Optionally, you might want to consider to get a wench or two, which makes the life of a pirate so much more enjoyable.

Yarrrr!

Once fully equipped, we can embark on our journey and fill the treasure chest with gold, silver and copyrighted gems from the entertainment industry. Hopefully, after some time, we will be able to build a pirate stronghold and enjoy retirement as governor of our own little island.