-------- Original Message -------- Subject: Off shore ISP's (complete) Date: 4 Jun 2000 22:23:20 -0500 From: MichaelP <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Organization: ? To: undisclosed-recipients:; I think this is similar to the way in which the brits were forced to end the BBC's monopoly on broadcasting - opened up the spectrum to commercial stuff. Of course, the issues here could be totally different. Cheers MichaelP ===== Americans turn a tin-pot state off the brit coast into world capital of computer anarchy INDEPENDENT (london) 5 June 2000 By Steve Boggan A group of American entrepreneurs is setting up the world's first offshore "data haven", complete with armed guards and a radar defence system, less than eight miles off the English coast. >From the air, the "principality" of Sealand appears to be nothing more than a small platform on two concrete pillars in the North Sea. But closer up -- and deeper down -- Sealand grows in size and in stature. Soon, this concrete fortress from which British serviceman once shot down German fighters, but which is now crawling with pony-tailed computer wizards, will take on an importance hugely disproportionate to its size. Within sight of the port of Felixstowe, Suffolk, the future of e-commerce and a form of anarchy that will terrify governments is being born. "Prince" Michael Bates, his father, "Prince" Roy, who is the founder of Sealand, and a team of American computer experts from the Anguilla-based firm HavenCo Ltd, are about to launch the only place in the world where legitimate businessmen and Cali cocaine dealers can rub shoulders, virtually and in complete anonymity. Its establishment is a direct attack on legislation currently passing through the House of Lords while, in terms of importance, it can be rated alongside the establishment of offshore tax havens such as the Caymen Islands. By locating their servers, the tools that allow website access, communication and financial transactions, in the bowels of Sealand, e-companies' business transactions, messages and records will be safe from the prying eyes of the police, intelligence and tax authorities. "It's a marvellous concept -- and great fun!" said Prince Michael, 47, as his new friends from Silicon Valley, California, unloaded the latest of many pieces of hi-tech equipment from a helicopter. "Over the years, my father has been approached by hundreds of people suggesting uses for Sealand, but he has rejected them all -- particularly the illegal ones. But when we were approached with this idea we loved it. "It is about freedom and liberty and making it easier for people to do business in private and to express themselves freely." His is the libertarian view. But in Whitehall, there will be a different take one that reflects worries about paedophiles and drug dealers and villains. The Foreign Office yesterday said it did not recognise Sealand as an independent state. Sealand began life as Roughs Tower, one of a number of concrete fortresses built off the east coast of England during the Second World War as a defence against German air attack. Unlike the other platforms, Roughs was built outside British territorial waters, seven and a half miles east of Felixstowe, so after the war, when the others were demolished, Roughs was abandoned intact. On 2 September 1967, Roy Bates, a retired British army major, occupied the fortress and claimed it. He argued that it had been abandoned in international waters and was his to take. The following year, the navy expressed concern over Mr Bates's presence and sent some boats. He fired warning shots at them and was hauled before the courts, only to argue successfully that the newly named Sealand was beyondits jurisdiction. A legal basisfor independence had beenestablished. In 1978, three years after Sealand declared itself a sovereign principality, a group of Dutch and German businessmen visited with a business proposition. While they were there, they took the fortress by force, holding Prince Michael prisoner for three days. He was freed in a counterattack from the air by Prince Roy, and the businessmen were taken as "prisoners of war". When Germany asked Britain to intervene, it was told the fortress was beyond British jurisdiction -- the second time, according to the Bateses, that Sealand had had de facto recognition of its sovereignty. The prisoners were released after the arrival of a German diplomat. Today, Sealand comprises two vast cylindrical towers and a platform linking them. It lies in only 30 feet of water, even though it is miles from land. As you arrive by helicopter, you are welcomed by "security", a number of armed and cheerful former British servicemen. They diligently patrol the deck and helipad round-the-clock. Climbing down the ladders of the north tower's seven storeys -- three of them below sea level -- is like going back in time. There are the remnants of bunks occupied by artillerymen, an ancient, purring generator and an arsenal, its racks empty of the shells that shot down more than 100 German aircraft. In the south tower, things are different. Here, three floors down, is a pristine, whitepainted control centre, silent except for the hum of computers and the tapping of keys. This is where Sean Hastings, 31, his wife, Jo, 29, and Ryan Lackey, 21, can be found plotting the future of HavenCo Ltd. Mr Hastings, who is understood to have already made his fortune in Caribbean-based computer ventures, is the company's chief executive officer. He said he had the idea for an offshore haven after a rash of apparently malicious copyright lawsuits in America. "Under legislation in the States, I can accuse you -- without any evidence -- of infringing my copyright in an item on your website and I can get a warrant to seize all your equipment and copy all your files," he said. "I have to return them within 14 days, but very often by then you'd be out of business. "We felt companies needed a defence against that and against the prying that can be done by governments. I was reading a book called How to Start Your Own Country and Sealand was in it. I thought it sounded perfect so I sent off an e-mail." Michael Bates read it and liked the idea. "We get lots of offers and at first I thought this was another crank," he said. "But we spoke more -- by e-mail, of course -- and I began to be taken by the idea." Most of the American team -- Mr Lackey, technical officer, Mrs Hastings, chief marketing officer, Avi Freedman, adviser, Sameer Parekh, chairman, and Joichi Ito, adviser -- are already known in Silicon Valley. Some have put in their own money and see themselves as libertarians first and entrepreneurs second. They say all their backers are like-minded and laugh at the suggestion that any malign force is behind them. They are, however, aware of the concerns their enterprise will raise in law-and-order circles. "We are drawing up an Acceptable Use Policy which will have high standards of legality," said Bill Scannell, the company's spokesman. "It is not our job to police what our clients do -- we are simply a method of facilitating communication. But if someone came to us with evidence that one of our clients was involved in, say, child pornography, then we'd pull the plug." Physically, the "plug" in question is fiendishly simple. The whole operation entails selling servers, or shares of servers, to clients for anything between $3,000 and $10,000, depending on power and speed. These look like small boxes, similar to the sections of a stereo stack system, and will be kept on racks in another section of the south tower. These handle all the transactions, messages and credit card sales generated by the website businesses. Aside from the one-off server purchase, there is a rental fee of about $1,500 a month for a medium-sized e-commerce business. Whether the venture succeeds remains to be seen. The Government is currently updating intercept -- bugging -- legislation to cope with the internet age. If it is forced to accept that Sealand is truly an independent sovereign state, free from British law, business is likely to boom. If it is not, the venture will have to be stopped by force and Britain will have to go to war with the fortress on its doorstep. ====================== *** NOTICE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. 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