# Forming your own country- "The World's First Free Market Location" **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [June 14, 2000, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forming-your-own-country-the-worlds-first-free-market-location/22387 "2000-06-14T19:16:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mojo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Mojo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mojo)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2000, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forming-your-own-country-the-worlds-first-free-market-location/22387/1 "2000-06-14T19:16:46Z")
Cecil covered “Forming your own country” in Return of the Straight Dope (I couldn’t find this article online so there’s no link). I just found out that Sealand, the offshore “sea fort” from WW2 that is now a sovereign nation, is now offering colocation services ( [http://www.havenco.com/](http://www.havenco.com/)). You can also get general info at : [http://www.sealandgov.com/](http://www.sealandgov.com/) “A large part of a server’s physical security is dependent upon the political system of the country in which the server is located.” I just found this interesting. I don’t know if anyone else will. ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2000, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forming-your-own-country-the-worlds-first-free-market-location/22387/2 "2000-06-14T19:57:48Z")
Cecil’s column can be found on-line at this link: [How do I go about starting my own country?](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3_300.html) You might also be interested in reading these threads in the General Questions forum: [Sofa King - ever get your Sealand ID papers?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=26809) [Ich Bin Ein Sealander](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=14763) The first GQ thread mentions an article about Sealand that you can read by registering at the LA Times web site. (Registration is free.) The article says that the havenco site was the idea of Sean Hastings, an American who found out about Sealand in the book “How To Start Your Own Country.” Roy Bates, the “prince of Sealand”, has leased space to Havenco (Hastings’ company) and now Sealand has generators and “hundreds of server computers.” They describe havenco as a “pirate cyber-site – one operating beyond the reach of lawsuits, government subpoenas and tax inspectors.” But note the following: > [@](#): > > Mindful of Sealand’s checkered past and its computer-enhanced capacity for future mischief, Bates vowed to hold Havenco’s clients to an “acceptable use” policy barring certain Internet traffic that would be illegal elsewhere. > > “If we find anything wrong, like child pornography or washing crooked money, we will stop it,” Bates said. “After all, the world will be looking at us. We must run things as straight as we can.” ---
**Author:** ![Mojo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Mojo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mojo)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2000, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forming-your-own-country-the-worlds-first-free-market-location/22387/3 "2000-06-14T21:30:07Z")
Mea culpa. I did a search for “Sealand” and “Havenco” in “Comments on…”, didn’t bother with GQ. And geez is their service pricey. It would have to be something subversive or illegal in order to justify the cost. ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2000, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forming-your-own-country-the-worlds-first-free-market-location/22387/4 "2000-06-16T14:50:13Z")
Forgot to mention the book. The column can also be found on pages 300-302 of Cecil Adams’ book “[_Return of the Straight Dope_](http://www.straightdope.com/otheroutlets/books.html)”. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2000, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forming-your-own-country-the-worlds-first-free-market-location/22387/5 "2000-06-16T23:59:55Z")
Sorry if I’m posting without reading all the links. NPR did a story about Sealand tonight on the way home. The final few sentences seem to indicate that Britain views them as part of the UK and will take action, even if it is action similar to how they starved the gambling ships off-shore some years ago, making it a crime to service the site. I assusme you can access the NPR story somehow, if you are interested. Apologies for not being more help.