As was foretold, we've added advertisements to the forums! If you have questions, or if you encounter any bugs, please visit this thread: https://forums.penny-arcade.com/discussion/240191/forum-advertisement-faq-and-reports-thread/

The Pirate Bay to become Sky Pirates?

2

Posts

  • AManFromEarthAManFromEarth Let's get to twerk! The King in the SwampRegistered User regular
    _J_ wrote: »
    Richy wrote: »
    Yeah, the first flaw I can see is power. Keeping a drone in the air takes power, and constantly transmitting information (which will be needed to be a useful hub) takes power as well. I see from one of the articles in this thread that they will be battery-powered. So what happens when the battery runs out? Do you have staff people running to them to replace the battery (ridiculously expensive and impractical if the drones are deployed world-wide, not to mention that making the drones traceable to find them in this scenario defeats the whole "untraceable network" purpose that underlies this project)? Do you allow them to crash (dangerous to public safety) or self-destruct (pollution)? Or do you program them to use their last bit of power to land safely (no danger or pollution, but eventually people will find them, someone will hack one, and the whole network could potentially be compromised)?

    Couldn't they just attach solar panels to the weather balloons?

    That'll work well at night.

    Lh96QHG.png
  • spacekungfumanspacekungfuman Poor and minority-filled Registered User, __BANNED USERS regular
    To be located in international waters, they need to be over 230 miles from land, I believe. Are there actually radios that can reach that far and maintain a usable data rate?

  • HamHamJHamHamJ Registered User regular
    _J_ wrote: »
    Richy wrote: »
    Yeah, the first flaw I can see is power. Keeping a drone in the air takes power, and constantly transmitting information (which will be needed to be a useful hub) takes power as well. I see from one of the articles in this thread that they will be battery-powered. So what happens when the battery runs out? Do you have staff people running to them to replace the battery (ridiculously expensive and impractical if the drones are deployed world-wide, not to mention that making the drones traceable to find them in this scenario defeats the whole "untraceable network" purpose that underlies this project)? Do you allow them to crash (dangerous to public safety) or self-destruct (pollution)? Or do you program them to use their last bit of power to land safely (no danger or pollution, but eventually people will find them, someone will hack one, and the whole network could potentially be compromised)?

    Couldn't they just attach solar panels to the weather balloons?

    That'll work well at night.

    Obviously it needs to store 24 hours of power in a 12year hour period.

    While racing light mechs, your Urbanmech comes in second place, but only because it ran out of ammo.
  • [Tycho?][Tycho?] As elusive as doubt Registered User regular
    I think the idea is great, though very impractical. I'd also say balloons with solar panels are they only way to make this remotely sustainable. Batteries suck and lose power quickly, and are also heavy. Motors and rotors will wear out quickly with continuous use. Battery replacements and repairs would be almost continuous. Balloons are the way to go.

    mvaYcgc.jpg
  • SammyFSammyF Registered User regular
    To be located in international waters, they need to be over 230 miles from land, I believe. Are there actually radios that can reach that far and maintain a usable data rate?

    It's more like 14 statute miles.

  • Dis'Dis' Registered User regular
    edited March 2012
    To be located in international waters, they need to be over 230 miles from land, I believe. Are there actually radios that can reach that far and maintain a usable data rate?

    The 370km/230miles is the Exclusive Economic Zone of a nation, which regards drilling and fishing - International waters as regards the presence of vehicles and shipping (outside territorial waters) starts at 12 nautical miles (22.2 km / 13.8 regular miles).

    If the drone is a few hundred metres in the air its radio can cover that distance to shore very easily.

    Dis' on
  • enc0reenc0re Registered User regular
    So at this point the Internet may start routing around sovereignty itself. Interesting.

  • SniperGuySniperGuy SniperGuyGaming Registered User regular
    I kinda want to go download something from them now, just so I know I got a file from a flying sky robot.

    God damn I love the internet.

  • ArchArch Neat-o, mosquito! Registered User regular
    That may have been the only funny Ctrl-alt-del strip I have ever seen

  • MillMill Registered User regular
    Should be interesting to keep monitoring this. I don't have high expectations but if they manage to go somewhere with this, it could have a fascinating effect on a number of things.

  • VanguardVanguard But now the dream is over. And the insect is awake.Registered User, __BANNED USERS regular
    Arch wrote: »
    That may have been the only funny Ctrl-alt-del strip I have ever seen

    Agreed. They are awful.

  • AManFromEarthAManFromEarth Let's get to twerk! The King in the SwampRegistered User regular
    HamHamJ wrote: »
    _J_ wrote: »
    Richy wrote: »
    Yeah, the first flaw I can see is power. Keeping a drone in the air takes power, and constantly transmitting information (which will be needed to be a useful hub) takes power as well. I see from one of the articles in this thread that they will be battery-powered. So what happens when the battery runs out? Do you have staff people running to them to replace the battery (ridiculously expensive and impractical if the drones are deployed world-wide, not to mention that making the drones traceable to find them in this scenario defeats the whole "untraceable network" purpose that underlies this project)? Do you allow them to crash (dangerous to public safety) or self-destruct (pollution)? Or do you program them to use their last bit of power to land safely (no danger or pollution, but eventually people will find them, someone will hack one, and the whole network could potentially be compromised)?

    Couldn't they just attach solar panels to the weather balloons?

    That'll work well at night.

    Obviously it needs to store 24 hours of power in a 12year hour period.

    Isn't the main problem with solar power that you can't store it that long?

    Lh96QHG.png
  • SnorkSnork word Jamaica Plain, MARegistered User regular
    Arch wrote: »
    That may have been the only funny Ctrl-alt-del strip I have ever seen

    okay, good. i thought i was going crazy. the facial expressions even change a little bit! it's almost like a real comic

  • JihadJesusJihadJesus Registered User regular
    I have never had a damn thing to do with Pirate Bay, but if they do this I'll be downloading a ROM OF Skies of Arcadia, copying it to a disk, and putting it on display with a sign saying 'Provided by the authority of sky pirates'.

    Then I'll play a legit copy of the game and it'll be awesome.

  • spacekungfumanspacekungfuman Poor and minority-filled Registered User, __BANNED USERS regular
    edited March 2012
    JihadJesus wrote: »
    I have never had a damn thing to do with Pirate Bay, but if they do this I'll be downloading a ROM OF Skies of Arcadia, copying it to a disk, and putting it on display with a sign saying 'Provided by the authority of sky pirates'.

    Then I'll play a legit copy of the game and it'll be awesome.

    You should suspend it in midair.

    spacekungfuman on
  • AurichAurich ArizonaRegistered User regular
    I'm fair sure I've misunderstood some part of this project, but when they need juice, couldn't they just go home? The drones power cycles could be staggered to cover such absences.

  • SnorkSnork word Jamaica Plain, MARegistered User regular
    Aurich wrote: »
    I'm fair sure I've misunderstood some part of this project, but when they need juice, couldn't they just go home? The drones power cycles could be staggered to cover such absences.

    wouldn't going 'home' to charge basically be going back to a place where they can be raided/seized

  • SchrodingerSchrodinger Registered User regular
    edited March 2012
    Vanguard wrote: »
    Flying robots.

    This is why piracy is awesome.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XZtTjMRxWRM

    How can we have a thread about flying pirates with no Tailspin?

    Schrodinger on
  • Boring7Boring7 Registered User regular
    Snork wrote: »
    Aurich wrote: »
    I'm fair sure I've misunderstood some part of this project, but when they need juice, couldn't they just go home? The drones power cycles could be staggered to cover such absences.

    wouldn't going 'home' to charge basically be going back to a place where they can be raided/seized

    True.

    Of course, the systems HAVE to be able to come in for maintenance, even if it's just cleaning the bird poop off the antennae, which is when the sting happens. Alternatively LEOs can try to either hack the remote controls (presuming they have them) or grab the people with the codes and beat them with wrenches until they give those codes up.

    I mean, a hell of a lot of the anti-piracy measures have already abandoned the laws as written in favor of judicial interpretations and illegal acts (hi there Sony's rootkit!).

    But it will be interesting to watch, they have a donation site?

  • spacekungfumanspacekungfuman Poor and minority-filled Registered User, __BANNED USERS regular
    Boring7 wrote: »
    Snork wrote: »
    Aurich wrote: »
    I'm fair sure I've misunderstood some part of this project, but when they need juice, couldn't they just go home? The drones power cycles could be staggered to cover such absences.

    wouldn't going 'home' to charge basically be going back to a place where they can be raided/seized

    True.

    Of course, the systems HAVE to be able to come in for maintenance, even if it's just cleaning the bird poop off the antennae, which is when the sting happens. Alternatively LEOs can try to either hack the remote controls (presuming they have them) or grab the people with the codes and beat them with wrenches until they give those codes up.

    I mean, a hell of a lot of the anti-piracy measures have already abandoned the laws as written in favor of judicial interpretations and illegal acts (hi there Sony's rootkit!).

    But it will be interesting to watch, they have a donation site?

    The next logical step is for TPB to move to actual pirate ships which can serve as mobile service stations for the drones.

  • Boring7Boring7 Registered User regular
    edited March 2012
    Boring7 wrote: »
    Snork wrote: »
    Aurich wrote: »
    I'm fair sure I've misunderstood some part of this project, but when they need juice, couldn't they just go home? The drones power cycles could be staggered to cover such absences.

    wouldn't going 'home' to charge basically be going back to a place where they can be raided/seized

    True.

    Of course, the systems HAVE to be able to come in for maintenance, even if it's just cleaning the bird poop off the antennae, which is when the sting happens. Alternatively LEOs can try to either hack the remote controls (presuming they have them) or grab the people with the codes and beat them with wrenches until they give those codes up.

    I mean, a hell of a lot of the anti-piracy measures have already abandoned the laws as written in favor of judicial interpretations and illegal acts (hi there Sony's rootkit!).

    But it will be interesting to watch, they have a donation site?

    The next logical step is for TPB to move to actual pirate ships which can serve as mobile service stations for the drones.

    Interesting parallel, I just picked up a copy of the latest Three Musketeers remake with all the airships because I never got to see it in theaters.

    The main problem I can see is I think Sealand (and similar places, including real islands) tend to either scam the people setting up offshore servers or get "leaned on" by real nations until they back off.

    Boring7 on
  • zerg rushzerg rush Registered User regular
    Boring7 wrote: »
    Snork wrote: »
    Aurich wrote: »
    I'm fair sure I've misunderstood some part of this project, but when they need juice, couldn't they just go home? The drones power cycles could be staggered to cover such absences.

    wouldn't going 'home' to charge basically be going back to a place where they can be raided/seized

    True.

    Of course, the systems HAVE to be able to come in for maintenance, even if it's just cleaning the bird poop off the antennae, which is when the sting happens. Alternatively LEOs can try to either hack the remote controls (presuming they have them) or grab the people with the codes and beat them with wrenches until they give those codes up.

    I mean, a hell of a lot of the anti-piracy measures have already abandoned the laws as written in favor of judicial interpretations and illegal acts (hi there Sony's rootkit!).

    But it will be interesting to watch, they have a donation site?

    The next logical step is for TPB to move to actual pirate ships which can serve as mobile service stations for the drones.

    They need to lower expenses like gasoline and such. They should be eco friendly and use sails.

  • Pi-r8Pi-r8 Registered User regular
    heh heh heh the pirates always win!

    Although I can't help but feel like the US will probably responding by being like "fuck international waters, we'll shoot down your servers wherever we want!" At which point the question becomes whether the US can find the flying servers.

  • Boring7Boring7 Registered User regular
    Pi-r8 wrote: »
    heh heh heh the pirates always win!

    Although I can't help but feel like the US will probably responding by being like "fuck international waters, we'll shoot down your servers wherever we want!" At which point the question becomes whether the US can find the flying servers.

    Or they push to outlaw or heavily regulate private drone craft including RC planes and such.

  • spacekungfumanspacekungfuman Poor and minority-filled Registered User, __BANNED USERS regular
    Boring7 wrote: »
    Pi-r8 wrote: »
    heh heh heh the pirates always win!

    Although I can't help but feel like the US will probably responding by being like "fuck international waters, we'll shoot down your servers wherever we want!" At which point the question becomes whether the US can find the flying servers.

    Or they push to outlaw or heavily regulate private drone craft including RC planes and such.

    I think they'll claim the drones interfere with naval operations and transatlantic shipping, and that they need to be destroyed as a matter of national security. If TPB is really hardcore, they should use manned drones. Even the RIAA wouldn't have the balls to shoot those down.

  • SammyFSammyF Registered User regular
    Pi-r8 wrote: »
    heh heh heh the pirates always win!

    Although I can't help but feel like the US will probably responding by being like "fuck international waters, we'll shoot down your servers wherever we want!" At which point the question becomes whether the US can find the flying servers.

    My guess would be yes? Pretty easily? The idea of a flying server for uploading and downloading large copyrighted files depends upon the platform broadcasting an electromagnetic signal continuously, and the technology for detecting a radio signal, identifying its azimuth and triangulating its location has been in existence since before the World War II.

  • David_TDavid_T A fashion yes-man is no good to me. Copenhagen, DenmarkRegistered User regular
    I don't think they're actually going to send them out over international waters. Just a couple of clicks above, I dunno, Stockholm and Malmö.

    So I'm guessing the US would probably have to consider a few things before launching missiles strikes at a couple of major Swedish cities.

    euj90n71sojo.png
  • Pi-r8Pi-r8 Registered User regular
    SammyF wrote: »
    Pi-r8 wrote: »
    heh heh heh the pirates always win!

    Although I can't help but feel like the US will probably responding by being like "fuck international waters, we'll shoot down your servers wherever we want!" At which point the question becomes whether the US can find the flying servers.

    My guess would be yes? Pretty easily? The idea of a flying server for uploading and downloading large copyrighted files depends upon the platform broadcasting an electromagnetic signal continuously, and the technology for detecting a radio signal, identifying its azimuth and triangulating its location has been in existence since before the World War II.
    Oh yeah that's a good point. I guess if my WiFi connection can find the servers then the US military can too.

  • MillMill Registered User regular
    What will be fun to watch, is when we get to a point where it's fairly cheap to get things into orbit. Once that happens TBP could either get a country to willingly help them or have a front group do the paperwork to get a TBP satellite into orbit without anyone knowing that what is being deployed belongs to TBP.

  • Pi-r8Pi-r8 Registered User regular
    edited March 2012
    Mill wrote: »
    What will be fun to watch, is when we get to a point where it's fairly cheap to get things into orbit. Once that happens TBP could either get a country to willingly help them or have a front group do the paperwork to get a TBP satellite into orbit without anyone knowing that what is being deployed belongs to TBP.
    It would be really ironic if China or North Korea tried to become a leader for a "free the internet" campaign by doing that.

    Pi-r8 on
  • MrMisterMrMister Jesus dying on the cross in pain? Morally better than us. One has to go "all in".Registered User regular
    edited March 2012
    Yemen lets us go so far as to launch missiles inside their borders to toast Al-Qaida; somehow I doubt The Pirate Bay is going to be super-successful by virtue of hiding out in foreign airspace. Who's going to tell us no when we want to take down their drones? Nothing at all counts as 'an act of war' if the host country isn't willing to fight a war over it.

    MrMister on
  • SniperGuySniperGuy SniperGuyGaming Registered User regular
    MrMister wrote: »
    Yemen lets us go so far as to launch missiles inside their borders to toast Al-Qaida; somehow I doubt The Pirate Bay is going to be super-successful by virtue of hiding out in foreign airspace. Who's going to tell us no when we want to take down their drones? Nothing at all counts as 'an act of war' if the host country isn't willing to fight a war over it.
    Shooting an explosive with express purpose of killing a terrorist is very different than firing an explosive at a computer server hovering above the heads of many many civilians. Because there will be debris that falls to earth, and commercial airlines and things in the way.

  • AurichAurich ArizonaRegistered User regular
    Also, because they are not combatants, there is probably some way of taking them down without firing missiles at them. Liking physically taking them down with a helicopter or something.

  • SniperGuySniperGuy SniperGuyGaming Registered User regular
    Aurich wrote: »
    Also, because they are not combatants, there is probably some way of taking them down without firing missiles at them. Liking physically taking them down with a helicopter or something.

    And yet, all of these methods are far more expensive than the actual construction and use of these drones probably will be. Meaning TPB still wins.

  • MetroidZoidMetroidZoid Registered User regular
    Hot air balloons and nets it is.

    9UsHUfk.jpgSteam
    3DS FC: 4699-5714-8940 Playing Pokemon, add me! Ho, SATAN!
  • GodfatherGodfather Registered User regular
    Tox wrote: »
    cad-20120321-00fe7.png

    Okay, I haven't followed CAD in years and I usually loathe the comic, but that was pretty funny

  • AurichAurich ArizonaRegistered User regular
    SniperGuy wrote: »
    Aurich wrote: »
    Also, because they are not combatants, there is probably some way of taking them down without firing missiles at them. Liking physically taking them down with a helicopter or something.

    And yet, all of these methods are far more expensive than the actual construction and use of these drones probably will be. Meaning TPB still wins.
    They might win if their goal was to stick it to The Man any way they could, but in terms of running their service that would be a solid loss.

  • ArchonexArchonex No hard feelings, right? Registered User regular
    edited March 2012
    This is hilarious.

    And that CTRL+ALT+DEL comic is actually funny. And not that off the mark what with the whole "escalation" mindset. You just know that if these drones go over some third world country, that some companies wouldn't be adverse to bribing paying the locals to take pot-shots at them.

    Looking at it a bit harder, this is pretty much the "nuclear" option for TPB.

    If they pull it off, they not only have a really damned hard network to shut down set up that can probably exist independent of the heads of TPB, but it also will open avenues for other groups to consider doing it too. At which point when that happens (And it's a when, really, not an if.), control over the internet pretty much goes out the door when it comes to companies and governments abusing their powers over it.

    Honestly, i'm not even sure anyone can do anything legally against this either. The U.S firing on drones is not feasibly practical in terms of munitions per dollar, nor is finding them. It's part of why we field the things, in fact.

    Also, anyone that fires on what are ostensibly neutral craft in international waters are going to get reamed by the international community no matter what the cause. Doubly so if others follow suit, and there's not a 100 percent confirmation that said server contains data/routing for TPB, and not some innocent organization. Then you can look forwards to plenty of lawsuits too.

    Certainly brightens my day after hearing about how ISP's are going to start buddying up with the same sort of people that wanted SOPA passed to spy on their own customers/potentially force them into lawsuits.

    Archonex on
  • Dyrwen66Dyrwen66 the other's insane Denver CORegistered User regular
    Considering their previous plan to buy the micronation off the coast of England fell through, this is probably the cheapest and most technologically viable option.

    Just an ancient PA person who doesn't leave the house much.
  • ArchonexArchonex No hard feelings, right? Registered User regular
    edited March 2012
    Dyrwen66 wrote: »
    Considering their previous plan to buy the micronation off the coast of England fell through, this is probably the cheapest and most technologically viable option.

    I love that that was actually a thing. It's like they're plotting to become the worlds first super-villains.


    This is also smarter, too. From what I recall, micro-nations have a habit of being invaded by nearby countries that want to annex the land. Usually by claiming that they owned it first and just weren't using it. The owners are then escorted away at gunpoint while the country in question plants a flag...And then just leaves the place as it is.

    So unless TPB actually wants to build a standing army, this is probably the cheaper option.

    Archonex on
Sign In or Register to comment.