WikiLeaks might be looking for a lawless off shore place to keep its servers, according to a Fox News report — which also speculates that place could be the Principality of Sealand.Just six miles off the eastern coast of the U.K., this platform — an unrecognized micronation — was a World War II fortress. Its motto: E Mare Libertas, or "From the Sea, Freedom".
Sealand did house the data hosting company HavenCo between 2000 and 2008, before operations ceased for unknown reasons. In 2008, according to Security and the Net, the file-sharing site PirateBay campaigned for donations to purchase Sealand and live in a "copyright-free nation."
Sealand was born in 1968 after a British court ruled the island was not under legal jurisdiction of the U.K. The founder of Sealand, a World War II veteran called Roy Bates, crowned his wife "Princess Joan." His 59-year-old son calls himself "Prince Michael." Mashable reached out to Sealand to ask about the validity of Fox's statements. We are still waiting for a response.
An expert from the Center for Democracy and Technology quoted in the article says putting WikiLeaks' servers on Sealand would not protect employees from prosecution since people — not servers — are prosecuted.
Life on the micronation was not always serene for the Bates family. The family made their own laws and fought attackers — a family member was once kidnapped by armed men and taken. Today, anyone can become nobility of Sealand with the purchase of a certificate.
If WikiLeaks is thinking about housing its servers at an offshore libertarian dream, it might also be considering Pay-Pal cofounder Peter Thiel's Seasteading Institute. The Institute will be a place where a startup sovereign government can thrive, notes the website.
That does sound like a libertarian dream indeed.
Original Page: http://feeds.mashable.com/~r/Mashable/~3/zljyKjDrxE0/
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