World's 1st Internet 'nation'

[William Knowles <wk () C4I ORG>]

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=21962

[I love Tony LoBaido's stories, Take a good news story, add a little
fiction to it, and you have something that is the razor's edge of
something Stephen Glass could have fed to The New Republic  - WK]


By Anthony C. LoBaido

LONDON --The nation's domain once spanned the seven seas until it was
said, "The sun never sets on the British Empire." After World War II,
this Empire became the British Commonwealth, which still continues to
grow in power to this day. Now, a new high-tech phenomenon called
Sealand -- a sovereign principality off the shores of the UK --
threatens to change the very definitions of "sovereignty" and
"empire."

What is Sealand? It is a concrete fortress built in 1940 as a part of
the British Empires air-defense infrastructure. The fortress was known
as Roughs Tower. It rests in the North Sea, 9.6 kilometers, or six
miles, offshore. During World War II, troops shot down Nazi bombers
from their posts on Sealand.

Rather than enemy aircraft, the residents of Sealand are now battling
national governments who refuse to recognize their home as a sovereign
entity.

A spokesman for the British Foreign Office told WorldNetDaily, "The UK
does not recognize Sealand as an independent state and we believe no
other country does either."

Sealands "ruler," Roy Bates, a former British army major and pirate
radio station operator, begs to differ. He purchased Sealand in the
1960s. In 1967, Bates changed his name to "Prince Roy of Sealand" and
hoisted his own flag over the offshore fortress. That was a time when
the idea of the Internet was only a glimmer in the eye of the
Pentagon. Yet, the forward-thinking Bates realized the potential of
Sealand and now is ready to turn his own "nation" into the worlds
first "data haven."

Due to the power -- for good or ill -- that could be wielded from
within the borders of Sealand, Prince Roy and his island cyber
sanctuary have caught the attention of the British government and
military at the very highest levels.

Those who climb down a U-boat-style ladder and enter Sealand's
submerged control room will be in a unique position to conduct cyber
commerce. Pirate e-communication links from Sealand will be free of
government surveillance in the fields of international banking and Web
domains. Prince Roy has already promised Tibets government in exile a
base to set up cyber communications -- much to the anger of the
British Blair regime and communist China. Already, legendary hacking
group the Hong Kong Blondes, as well as an offshoot group, the Laurie
Holden Hackers, are salivating over the opportunity which a base like
Sealand -- with its state-of-the-art encryption systems -- might
afford them.

International bankers, online casino gambling and other businesses
will be able to utilize Sealands unique status as a sovereign entity
free of British, European Union and United Nations regulations. In
fact, almost anything will pass muster on Sealands communication lines
-- except child pornography and bulk e-mail.

Says Tracey Kinchen, a former MI-6 (British intelligence) field agent
and leader of the Thailand-based Laurie Holden Hackers: "The British
government tried to reclaim Sealand back in 1968, the year I was born,
so it's very easy for me to remember. They wouldnt have tried to bring
Sealand back under its wing unless they coveted it for themselves.
They feared what Sealand might one day become. It is a totalitarian's
worst nightmare. It may well also be the wave of the future."

Field agents from MI-6, the Mossad and the British military based in
Cyprus all told WorldNetDaily that Sealand offers tremendous
advantages in the field of cyber communications and banking. A few
agents expressed concern that Sealand could be taken over by, or used
by, terrorists or transnational criminals.

"When I contacted HavenCo [the company handling Sealand's Internet
outreach], they told me that a business can buy a host computer server
for about 6,000 -- thats the high-end fee. Then there is a monthly
rental fee of about 1,000," Kinchen told WorldNetDaily.

"In my opinion, it seems quite reasonable. Although, if other
'Sealands' start springing up off of Australia or Cyprus, they may
have to drop their prices a bit. In general, I am frightfully
optimistic that Sealand will, in fact, succeed."

If you think that the British government can send in the military to
take down Sealand, think again. Sealand rests some 4.8 kilometers
beyond the UK's territorial waters. It is run by an experienced
military officer, and it is no easy target. It was, after all,
designed for warfare.

Says Prince Roy, "The British forces wont come against me. I'm an
ex-soldier and did a lot of service in hard times. I'm an Englishman,
and my family are English. We wouldnt do anything to harm England in
the slightest way. We might do things they don't like too much, but
that is only because we believe in freedom."

According to Sealand's operators, it claims territorial waters of 12.5
nautical miles in all directions, except where that overlaps the
territorial waters claimed by its nearest neighbor, Britain, in which
case it claims half the distance to the British shore.

Sealand has its own flag, passports, stamps and currency, which, as
one might expect, is pegged to the U.S. dollar. Sealands passports are
in great demand and have been forged by criminals. In 1968, a British
court fully vindicated Sealand's claim to independence by ruling that
British authorities have no jurisdiction in Sealand, since it sits 4.8
kilometers outside of the UKs territorial waters. Germany once sent a
diplomat to negotiate directly with the Prince of Sealand for the
release of a German criminal being held in a Sealand prison.

Several members of the British military and the international
intelligence agency MI-6 told WorldNetDaily that the government is
keeping an eye on Sealand, for it may "represent a trend of the future
-- sovereign individuals creating their own de facto nation-state."

Prince Roy likes to point out that his nation lies only 65 to 100
miles from the coasts of France, Belgium, Holland and Germany. Within
a radius of 500 miles of Sealand live more than 200 million people who
enjoy some of the highest standards of living in the world. This area
also encompasses the financial, industrial and cultural heart of
Europe.

Few outsiders get to visit Sealand -- even paying customers. It is
well-stocked to survive a siege. Even MI-6 and MI-5 have been unable
to gather up-to-date intelligence on the fortress.

With this in mind, as one might expect, Prince Roy is not alone in
this venture. HavenCo, registered in Antigua, has agreed to help
launch the Princes dream of a virtual nation/state and data haven.
HavenCo purchased Sealand and set up its computer infrastructure.

Says HavenCo spokesman Bill Scannell, "We are the first place on Earth
where people are free to conduct business without someone looking over
their shoulder." To HavenCo, free communication in and of itself "can
never be a crime, and by itself, it never hurt anyone."

American Internet maverick Sean Hastings, who now lives on the Sealand
fortress, created HavenCo.

According to HavenCo's official literature:

"As the security of sensitive data over public networks grows in
importance, businesses, governments and organizations worldwide are
realizing the need for a suitable facility from which to host their
eCommerce, financial transactions, B2B and e-mail servers, as well as
sensitive data backups. A large part of a server's physical security
is dependent upon the political system of the country in which the
server is located. We will be providing the business structure in the
world's first free-market location.

"There are no direct reporting or registration requirements. HavenCo
is working with the Royal Family of Sealand to phase in abundant
bandwidth with extreme reliability. It is very difficult to run
businesses which require very high reliability, high-quality
infrastructure without regulatory hindrances. Businesses that require
high quality eCommerce infrastructure face a significant burden in
costs imposed by taxation and regulatory compliance. This prevents
many businesses from forming in the first place, and limits the
chances of success for those that do start up. HavenCo will answer the
infrastructure vs. freedom question in a fundamentally new way,
applying novel technology, a unique physical location and a
world-class team. We will provide business with better quality
infrastructure than ever before, allowing eCommerce operations the
luxury of an environment free of unnecessary bureaucracy, and at a
lower total cost than anywhere else."

HavenCo believes that it can provide services for transaction-oriented
businesses, such as eCommerce servers -- where the integrity of
sensitive data is key -- and critical business infrastructure such as
Application Service Providers. Security-dependent businesses and
network-centric information processing businesses are also potential
clients of HavenCo.

Says Prince Roy: "Sealand could accomplish more if it had a greater
level of world recognition. If you are part of a recognized national
government, or know someone who is, we are interested in talking to
other nations about the benefits of mutual recognition. Even if you
have no such connections, you can help just by spreading accurate
knowledge about Sealand. Governments and borders only exist in
people's minds, and the more people who know that Sealand is a real
place with real people and a real right to independence, the less
Sealand will remain just a strange legal curiosity, and the more it
will become a real world nation."

Last fall, the British Parliament passed new legislation to grant
itself increasingly dictatorial powers over the Internet. For now,
however, Sealand remains out of the legal reach of Britain and her
Commonwealth. But Bates fortress is not out of the reach of 6 billion
other citizens of the world who may wish to utilize her services.
Sealand is preparing fiber-optic connections in Holland and the UK to
stop either of those nations from closing down its Internet data
transmission. According to the Toronto Globe and Mail, an Internet
entrepreneur may set up a song-swapping service on Sealand, hoping to
replace the legally dogged Napster. Outside the long arm of record
labels' attorneys, the new service could provide a foolproof way for
music lovers to obtain copyrighted material online.

Says Kinchen: "When people in the intelligence community criticize
Maj. Bates, I tell them, 'Do shut up! Sealand has offered Tibet Online
completely free service.' That's incredibly patriotic in my worldview,
considering the shameful pro-China stance of the Blair government and
the European Union. If Mr. Bates continues to help groups like the
Tibet government in exile, he might become a real Prince after all --
at least in my eyes."



*==============================================================*
"Communications without intelligence is noise;  Intelligence
without communications is irrelevant." Gen Alfred. M. Gray, USMC
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