VIDEO. World Cup: they want to turn off TVs in bars with a pirate remote control

"We feel very strong", rejoices a thirty-year-old in a bar in the 18th arrondissement.

In front of him, an audience of disappointed Blues supporters.

The café's television has just turned off on its own.

All alone, in appearance, since it is actually this tall, smiling brunette who has just created this little collective disappointment.

In his hands, a pirate remote control: a "TV-B-Gone", invented by the hacker Mitch Altman in the 2000s. places are cleared.

The box incorporates the signals of nearly 160 brands.

He has decided not to watch the Mondial and intends to have fun with his new "zappette", designed during an anti-mondial event at the Recyclerie, not far from there.

Dan Geiselhart, founder of the ecological media Climax, initiated this workshop, led and imagined by Thomas, a volunteer hacker and designer.

“The idea is not to extinguish people's happiness but to do a bit like Amélie Poulain”.

The journalist refers to the tinkering of the heroine, who plays with her neighbor's TV antenna in the middle of a match to deprive him of the best actions and get revenge.

“The idea is not to weigh political decisions on the back of the supporter, or to annoy them.

But more to show a signal, and to say that we can like football, but that we can also say that in this World Cup, things are not going well ”.

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In the workshop, few are those who wish to rub shoulders with Blues fans focused on their screens.

No massive action is planned for the time being.

The handymen boycott the matches, but are reluctant to impose their choices on others, like Nicolas: "I find that it's not very cool for the guy who runs his bar, because he is not responsible for all that".

He will try his luck, to test his new object, but he counted above all without being used to turn off advertising screens.

Dan Geiselhart insists on the need for dialogue in the event of a break in the match at the bar and does not encourage confrontation.

"And then if you switch off during the game, you can also go see people and explain to them".

Alternative: "We can already try to cut the ad, no one wants to see it," he advises.

Because this gadget "is a form of resistance, but peaceful, in the world"