IP: Sealand is Independent, says U.k. Pension Dept. (WIRED)

[Dave Farber <farber@cis.upenn.edu>]

>From: "Rob Raisch" <info@raisch.com>
>To: "Dave Farber" <farber@cis.upenn.edu>
>
>So Much for That Plan:
>
>Speaking of data havens, remember that tiny platform off the coast of
>England where a band of cypherpunks have been busy starting HavenCo?
>
>Part of the allure of HavenCo is that it is based on Sealand, an ostensibly
>independent nation. But that concept rests on a shaky legal foundation: a
>1968 court decision that said Sealand was outside of Britain's territorial
>waters.
>
>Well, turns out that the British authorities have changed their minds. This
>week immigration officials at Heathrow barred a HavenCo engineer from
>entering the country, the Daily Telegraph reported.
>
>That move doesn't necessarily threaten HavenCo, insists CEO Sean Hastings.
>
>"Several departments of the British government continue to maintain that
>Sealand is independent from the UK," Hastings said in an email message to
>Wired News. "Prince Roy's pension based on his decorated World War Two
>service to the British military is paid to him only while he resides in the
>UK. He is not eligible for payment during the times when he is in residence
>in Sealand based on the pension department's decision that it is not part of
>England."
>
>http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,37573,00.html?tw=wn20000715
>
>--
>Rob Raisch - lead analyst @ www.raisch.com
>Muscular Business Intelligence