200709 Research Gathering – Bricophone

An open call to all developers, artists and activists with and without mobile phones: the launch of the first Bricophone workshop – working towards the connected future of open source telephony. The Bricophone project aims to develop a low-cost open source DIY and independent cellular telephony infrastructure for unequipped areas or special events. The Bricophone gathers new, alternative hardware and software techniques to create a cheap, fast and easy-to-deploy independent cellular telephony infrastructure. The system doesn't use the actual telephony networks and economy and should include anti-control technologies.

Open source hardware and open source software are an alternative to the technical, cultural, political and economical dependency on more and more powerful communication companies in the world. The principal actors of this open workshop are artists, activists, NGOs, developers and participants of the Bricolabs network.

Jean-Noël Montagné from Centre de Ressources Art Sensitif (http://www.craslab.org) in Paris will present Bricophone concepts. A cultural and technical workshop on the topic will follow the presentation, trying to organize the different technical and ethical roadmaps to launch the first hardware, software and communication networks.

• http://www.bricolabs.net