Tactical Pirate — Licences & Terms

Last updated: 24 August 2026

This page records the open-source obligations, attribution, authorized-use terms and general disclaimers for the Tactical Pirate project. It will be updated as the firmware, hardware modules and release packages evolve.

1. Open-Source Licence

The Tactical Pirate firmware is based on and adapted from Bruce Firmware. Bruce is distributed under the GNU Affero General Public License, version 3 (AGPL-3.0). Tactical Pirate modifications that form part of the combined firmware are distributed under the same AGPL-3.0 licence.

The AGPL-3.0 grants rights to use, study, modify and redistribute covered software, subject to its conditions. When a Tactical Pirate firmware release is distributed or made available for network interaction, the corresponding source code and required notices will be made available with that release.

The authoritative licence text included with each source release governs. This summary does not replace the licence itself.

2. Third-Party and MIT Notices

The firmware uses libraries and components created by other open-source projects. Each component keeps its own copyright and licence. Where a component is licensed under the MIT License, its copyright notice and permission notice will be preserved in the source tree and distributed release notices as required.

A component inventory and consolidated third-party notice file will be maintained with release documentation. No third-party component is relicensed merely because it is used by the Tactical Pirate.

3. Embergotchi Attribution

Embergotchi is the Stormy Sailors branding used for the Brucegotchi functionality included through Bruce Firmware. The branding change does not erase the original project’s authorship, copyright or AGPL-3.0 obligations, and it does not imply that Stormy Sailors created the underlying Brucegotchi implementation.

4. Branding and Creative Assets

Unless a release states otherwise, the Stormy Sailors Maker Lab name, Tactical Pirate name, logos, original artwork, interface theme, written documentation and other brand assets remain copyright of Stormy Sailors Maker Lab and are not granted for reuse merely by the software licence. Third-party names and marks remain the property of their respective owners.

5. Authorized Use Only

The Tactical Pirate is developed as a white-hat tool for education, diagnostics, research and authorized security testing. Use it only with systems, signals, equipment and networks that you own or for which you have clear permission from the owner.

• Obtain explicit authorization and understand its scope before testing.
• Follow applicable laws, regulations, radio rules and organizational policies.
• Do not use the project for unauthorized access, credential theft, surveillance, interference or disruption.
• Minimize collection and retain only the information necessary for the authorized task.
• Protect capture files, logs, identifiers and other potentially sensitive data.
• Delete or return collected data according to the authorization agreement and applicable privacy requirements.

6. User Responsibility

You are responsible for determining whether your possession and use of the hardware, firmware, radio functions and captured information are lawful in your jurisdiction. Stormy Sailors Maker Lab does not authorize activity on behalf of a network, device, property or signal owner.

7. No Warranty

Except where a governing licence or applicable law provides otherwise, the project and documentation are provided “as is,” without warranty of any kind. Wireless and hardware experimentation can cause data loss, service interruption, equipment damage or unintended transmissions. Back up important data, work within authorization and test cautiously.

8. Documentation Status

This is an initial project notice, not legal advice and not yet a substitute for the complete licence files and notices packaged with source code and binary releases. If this page conflicts with an applicable open-source licence, the applicable licence controls.