A batch of 200 devices pirated TV Box – capable of irregularly capturing the signal from paid television channels – seized by the Revenue Federal in Campinas were delivered this Monday (19) to Unicamp as part of a cooperation agreement started in 2019. The devices will now be adapted and converted for other uses by University experts.
For the rector of Unicamp, Antonio José de Almeida Meirelles, thissthe new phase of the agreement between the University and a Recipe opens up a range of possibilities and can help needy students, allow research in different areas e boost extension and inclusion programs.
According to professor Ricardo Dahab, from the Institute of Computing (IC), the work of experts will consist of to install in the devices a new type of software – nessand case, or Linux - or promote modifications to the operating system of thes devices, what, one way or another, raisinm operating as a computeres low cost.
According to Dahab, the TV Box devices donated by the IRS should have new configurations. “They have input for USB, card, HDMI and network. With a keyboard, monitor and mouse, you can transform in a desktop computer”, says the professor. They can also be adapted to flat screen TV screens which, as a result, gain the status of smart TVs, as the devices come equipped with o Android system, ensuring access a social networks, such as Facebook and YouTube, e a aplicativos several.
The Revenue suggests that the adapted devices be delivered to students in vulnerable situations, including indigenous people who live in the Amazon region and who participate in the selection processes carried out by Unicamp. Mas Dahab remembers that the potential from the project it goes much further than that. He says the equipment could be used as atmospheric sensors - to measure air quality, for example. Or to o monitoring and a presence detection.
Another possibility would be access to the cloud so they can operate as high-performance devices. The professor says that several of these devices linked together can be transformed into small supercomputers and, thus,sthe form, have a much wider applicability.
Dahab says he intends to subject the use of the devices to student scrutiny. “One idea is to make a kind of hackathon. Put the devices in the hands of groups of students and they will compete each other to see who can come up with a more appropriate or innovative application”, says the professor.
According to the Revenue, there are at least 15 thousand of these devices seized and which are available to be sent to the University in order to suffer adulteration.
Second Fabiano Coelho, deputy superintendent of the Federal Revenue, the volume of this type of material to be provided for the University could be much greater. “Right now, I want there to be at least 200 thousand [gadgets]", he said.
Donations since 2019
The agreement that allows the IRS to donate the seized material to Unicamp was signed in 2019 and, since then, several joint actions have been developed.
In May of that year, for example, the Hospital de Clínicas (HC) from Unicamp received donated material by the Revenue. There were 70 items seized by customs at Viracopos airport and in bonded warehouses dthe region. In February 2021, there was a new shipment of seized material to the University. NessIn this case, a vehicle, a drone and hospital supplies were donated.
This year, the institutions opened negotiations to expand the agreement. In March, the Revenue delegate in Viracopos, Camilo Pinheiro Cremonez, requested support from the University in the process of developing technologies and protocols for a technical identification of materials.
One of the areas of cooperation seria a de analysis and identification of precious, semi-precious stones and rocks. Unicamp professionals will also be able to contribute to processes to a analysis and a identification of chemical products and products of animal and vegetable origin, in addition to the realization of analysiss of DNA.
The transformation of electronic equipment, such as the one that is expected to occur now, is also within the scope of this project.sand agreement.
New Revenue policy
Coelho said that the agreement with Unicamp is part of the institution's new policy. According to him, instead of destroying the seized equipment, as was common until recently, the idea now is to make the product confiscated on account of an irregularity or illegality returns to society in the form of a benefit. “people [from Revenue] it needs to be seen in another way”, he assesses. “What we have today is a different look at this problem from the IRS,” he explains.
The superintendent says that a similar problem occurs with the apprehensiono of clothing, footwear and other items in the clothing sectors. “In a single operation, we were able to seize 2 thousand tons of materiall. So far we have only been able to allocate 300 tons”, he says. Coelho says that similar agreements will be signed with University of Sao Paulo (USP) and with Instituto Tecnolólogical de Aeronautics (ITA).
“This is another step in this fantastic agreement that we managed to sign between the IRS and Unicamp”, said delegate Cremonez. “We have already had several initiatives, all of them very successful and having a very positive impact on society. These 200 units [de TV Box] are just a kick off”, he adds. “This project can further enhance our actions. The Revenue is able, on the one hand, to remove potentially harmful goods from circulation and, on the other, it allows us to give them an essentially positive disposal”, concludes the delegate.
The dean of Unicamp said that this agreement with the IRS is very promising e that there is a possibility of being used in areas other than technology. Meirelles assesses that the agreement it can even be used to strengthen the University’s extension mechanisms. “The possibilities are enormous. I hope these actions of collaborationo be deepened. We want to expand and extend these partnerships. Our goal is to seek solutions that bring direct benefit to people”, he states.ou the dean.
