To Avoid Shutdown, Torrent Site Will Host Servers on Flying Drones

What’s the Latest Development?

Perhaps the world’s most outspoken torrent-hosting site, the Pirate Bay has upped the ante in its showdown with Hollywood over the sharing of copyrighted music, videos and software. The Swedish website says it is making plans to host proxy servers on GPS-controlled drones hovering over international waters, enlisting the help of modern radio technology and cheap new computers like the Raspberry Pi. “With modern radio transmitters we can get over 100Mbps per node up to 50km away,” say representatives of the site. “For the proxy system we’re building, that’s more than enough.”

What’s the Big Idea?

Ever since the US Justice Department seized the New Zealand-based torrent host Megaupload, many other P2P and video streaming sites have voluntarily refrained from sharing copyrighted material. The Pirate Bay, however, has not followed suit. Earlier this year, the site’s slogan became, “The galaxy’s most resilient magnet site,” hinting at its longer-term goal of hosting files from the far reaches of outer space. “When the time comes, we will host in all parts of the galaxy,” says the site. “And all of the parts we’ll use to build that system on will be downloadable.”

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