World's smallest country up for sale

[maggieNomar 0]

wow thanks, cancel all buy out plans guys, Charles sorry no president for you then

just raise taxes and change the view

Wow you're brilliant, and for that, you're back on the election docket...

[Ban Hammer 13,340]

wow thanks, cancel all buy out plans guys, Charles sorry no president for you then

just raise taxes and change the view

Wow you're brilliant, and for that, you're back on the election docket...

i'm betting fishing will be a national pasttime there

[brnidokiegurl 0]

couples being apart reunited yea right fishing

[Fandango 1,439]

I missed out on that listing, damn it!

[Mags 112]

This is just off the coast of my husbands home town. Trust me no one wants to own it if the views are as schitty from it, as they are from the shore.

Yeah, he came from just up the coast from where I originally hail from (Essex). Yup, the views there are...well, grey, boring and just 'orrid! It's not the nicest sea in the world. Very cold, very windy and oh so polluted.

Edited January 10, 2007 by mags

[Ban Hammer 13,340]

couples being apart reunited yea right fishing

well just think of all the innuendo lines while they are fishing.

honey bait my hook!

would you cast it for me?

i think the bobber needs to be set deeper

i think i got a bite!

reel faster!

[brnidokiegurl 0]

Only you now im sure we will hear a few more lines of interest (where did get the example of how to be president)

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

Swedish file-sharing website The Pirate Bay is planning to buy its own nation in an attempt to circumvent international copyright laws.

The group has set up a campaign to raise money to buy Sealand, a former British naval platform in the North Sea that has been designated a 'micronation', and claims to be outside the jurisdiction of the UK or any other country.

The Pirate Bay says it is the world's largest 'bit torrent tracker', and is a popular way of sharing music, films, software and other copyrighted material online. It has been under the scrutiny of authorities in Sweden and around the world for some time.

The site was briefly closed down after raids by the Swedish police last May. After initially moving to the Netherlands, the site returned to Sweden in June. Swedish authorities have been put under pressure to do more to stop the site. The Motion Picture Association of America, the Swedish Anti-Piracy Bureau and the US government have all lobbied for The Pirate Bay's closure.

According to a website set up to secure the purchase of Sealand, The Pirate Bay plans to give citizenship of the micronation to anyone willing to put money towards the purchase.

"It should be a great place for everybody, with high-speed Internet access, no copyright laws and VIP accounts to The Pirate Bay," the organisation claims on its website www.buysealand.com.

[...]

The Pirate Bay says it is looking at alternatives to buying the former naval platform.

"If we do not get enough money required to buy the micronation of Sealand, we will try to buy another small island somwhere and claim it as our own country," the organization says on its website.

http://www.thelocal.se/6076/20070112/

[Ban Hammer 13,340]

Self-declared prince of sovereign principality of Sealand dies aged 91

Paddy Roy Bates, who occupied an abandoned fort in the North Sea and declared it the sovereign Principality of Sealand with himself as its prince, has died aged 91, his son said on Wednesday.

Michael Bates said his father died on Tuesday at a care home in Leigh-on-Sea, Essex. He had been suffering from Alzheimer's.

In the 1960s, inspired by the "pirate radio" movement, Bates set up Radio Essex on an offshore fort. When that was closed down, he moved in 1966 to Fort Roughs, a disused second world war platform in international waters about seven miles off the coast.

Michael Bates said his father initially intended to set up another radio station, but then "had the bizarre idea of declaring independence".

Rejecting a British order to leave, he proclaimed the fort the Principality of Sealand, declaring himself Prince Roy and his wife, Joan, as princess.

The 550-square-metre (5,920-square-foot) fort two concrete towers connected by an iron platform claimed to be the world's smallest sovereign state, though it was not internationally recognized.

Since an initial attempt to reclaim the fort was rejected by an English court, Britain has largely ignored the breakaway platform.

Despite the lack of legal status, Bates gave Sealand its own constitution, red, white and black flag, passports, stamps, coins, national anthem and a motto, E Mare Libertas: "From the sea, freedom".

Today, Sealand makes money by selling aristocratic titles and hosting Internet servers.

"I might die young or I might die old, but I will never die of boredom," Bates said in a 1980s interview.

According to Sealand's official website, Bates fought in the Spanish civil war and worked at Smithfield meat market in central London before joining the British army during the second world war, serving in North Africa, the Middle East and Italy.

After the war, he imported meat from Ireland to northern England, where rationing was still in effect, imported rubber from Malaysia and ran fishing boats off Britain's east coast before founding Sealand.

In his old age, Bates moved to the mainland, making his son, Michael, regent and head of state of Sealand.

Michael Bates remembered his father as a "huge, huge character".

"How many people do you know that are discussed by governments and prime ministers?" he said. "The history is absolutely amazing."

Bates is survived by Joan, Michael and his daughter Penny.

link

[LK&MA 1]

LOL

[TBoneTX 45,289]

Way to keep track of previous threads, Charles! And, interesting stuff.