Sometimes 'Piracy' And Freedom Look Remarkably Similar

I've complained in the past about The Pirate Party's name, which I think does the party a serious disservice. It may work in the short-term, but I have my doubts about its long-term efficacy. While the Pirate Party's leaders continue to defend the name, I still think it gets people focused on the issue of copyright much more than basic freedoms -- which really does seem to be the core of the Party's agenda. Still, there are times when I can see the reasoning, because all too often "piracy" looks quite a lot like "freedom." Take, for example, this nifty contrast highlighted by Casey Rae-Hunter, from the Future of Music Coalition (hardly a "piracy defender"), where he notes that two separate projects, the PirateBox and the FreedomBox appear remarkably similar.

The "PirateBox" is an open source project to build self-contained file-sharing devices that people can set down, turn on and have a remote file sharing system, totally separate from those who might seek to control it. The "FreedomBox" is a project that Eben Moglen has been pushing, which is designed to create very similar self-contained, portable servers that can be used to provide unregulated, uncontrolled internet access quickly and easily.

The similarities between the two projects are pretty obvious as you dig into both. Take, for example, the descriptions:

PirateBox utilizes Free, Libre and Open Source software (FLOSS) to create mobile wireless communications and file sharing networks where users can anonymously chat and share images, video, audio, documents, and other digital content.

And...

Freedom Box exists to provide people with privacy-respecting technology alternatives in normal times, and to offer ways to collaborate safely and securely with others in building social networks of protest, demonstration, and mobilization for political change in the not-so-normal times.

Freedom Box software is built to run on hardware that already exists, and will soon become much more widely available and much more inexpensive. "Plug servers" and other compact devices are going to become ubiquitous in the next few years, serving as "media centers," "communications centers," "wireless routers," and many other familiar and not-so-familiar roles in office and home.

It seems that there are times when "piracy" looks an awful lot like "freedom."

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