At Ars Technica, James Grimmelmann charts the failure of offshore datacenter HavenCo. Supposedly beyond the reach of national laws, HavenCo was located on Sealand, a tiny naval fort six miles off the English coast. Occupied since 1967 by a pirate radio DJ and touting itself as the world's smallest nation, Sealand's monarchical trappings are ever-mingled with libertarian fancy. The Pirate Bay expressed an interest a couple of years ago; now Fox News claims Wikileaks could go there. JWZ highlights the most telling photo. [Ars Technica]
Bathos in Sealand
In 1948 James T. Mangan declared the entire universe to be a country under his protection
This is from last week's issue of my newsletter, The Magnet — Mark Anyone can start their own micronation. The hard part is getting the snobbish macronations to accept you into their club. Wikipedia has a list of about 90 micronations from the past and present. Carla and I even visited one of them — Christiania, a… READ THE REST
Sealand's caretakers
Sealand is an unrecognized micronation off the coast of England, established in the 1960s and issuer of stamps, passports and occasional offshore business shenanigans ("BECOME A LORD"). But Sealand is also a rotting sea fortress in need of constant maintenance. Atlas Obscura met the two caretakers who spend two weeks at a time doing what… READ THE REST
Meet the friendly emperor of Atlantium, ruler of 3,000 citizens
Atlantium boasts just 3,000 citizens, but what it lacks in size it makes up for in friendliness and progressive values. Emperor George II explains. READ THE REST
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Black Friday is here: Get a refurbished MacBook Air for just $400
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