Online file-sharers disheartened at the news that Google has begun censoring peer-to-peer search terms can now take their data into the real world with the PirateBox, a lunchbox-sized device created by David Darts, a professor of art and technology at NYU Steinhardt.
The PirateBox broadcasts an open WiFi network that anyone in the vicinity can anonymously join. Once connected, users can upload and download any files they please - effectively creating a temporary and portable file sharing network. You don't need to log in and no user data is recorded, so file-sharers are free to trade whatever they like.
Darts built the device, originally called Freedrop, as an easy way to share files with his students in class. "I was looking for a device that would allow users in the same physical space to easily share files," he says. It was a hit, but he soon found that his students had other sharing plans. "Students started sharing non-class related materials, their favorite albums and so on."
This alternative use inspired Darts to place the Freedrop inside a pirate-themed lunchbox, inevitably leading to the name PirateBox. But is he encouraging piracy? "Pirate is a strange term," says Darts, who prefers to see the device as a tool for sharing content of any kind. "But calling it the PirateBox is certainly provocative."
If you fancy making your own PirateBox, Darts provides instructions for building one at a cost of around $100. It's not the first time file-sharing has entered the real world though - last year artist Aram Bartholl installed USB sticks in walls and buildings around New York to create a series of digital dead drops.
