Dear Robert, <<<As you have an inside track and I don't (anymore), I will refrain from <<<disputing anything that has to do with day to day going ons in Sealand.
ok <<<However, your explanations and suggestions do not address the two root <<<problems of it all. see above :-) Note: these were not my suggestions. They were the informed opinion of another person working with another related company that we work with. <<<- Sealand claims souvereignity but has no commercial code that would <<<establish rules of conduct, taxation, contract law, etc. Taxation? Contract law? Rules of conduct? Where would they hold the trial? Why would you even want them to have that? It is pay as you go. No one wants to be taxed. Screw taxes. They earn their money honestly. You can't go there and they certainly can't take you there. I suppose they would have to turn you in to some other government to get someone to work a person over. I mean realistically a group of buddies and I could start a war with Sealand and probably win without much effort and a little forethought. Kinda takes the air out of that system. <<<- Sealand's ruler is an absolute monarch without checks and balances. So? It is suprising to me that the people who should be the most outspoken about government are the first to complain when there is none, or when something is presented differently. Sealand has no taxation as I am aware of and they have made war on nobody. In my opinion they are better than all prior existing Governments 1000 fold even if they are a dictatorship or a Monarchy. So be it. <<<Don't get me wrong, I subscribe and believe in forms of government that <<<are either earned or inherited and especially learnt. How much are your monthly subscription dues? <<<However, conducting business in a location in which there is no rules and <<<in which the 'citizenry' is at the complete mercy of the government, is <<<IMHO not worth the higher fees that have to be passed on to customers. ok fine. So you would rather pay lower fees to have your servers in the USA guaranteeing your customers are at the mercy of the Government? Let's look at this realistically. You cannot be in the business you are in without the government inquiring about things from time to time. It is just not possible and if it has not happened to you then (respectfully) you do not host many sites. But the reality is that they will and do. This is a reality of all hosting companies past a certain level. This does not mean that they have a case, or can just ask for voluntary disclosure of client data without breaking their own laws which they try to do becasue they do not usually even understand the laws they are trying to enforce, much less hosting and how it works, but my point is with Sealand, you have less enforcement due in a big part to less people available to pay attention. In the US there is at least 1000 people in every state looking for and finding trouble. Not to mention the sheer amount of laws on the books. You can't evern get out of bed in the morning without being a criminal in this country today. Our government seems to think that they can go around their own laws to investigate potential situations and that is just not the case. What happens when a clients competition tries to get rid of them by complaining to some agency and they start a false investigation? Happens all the time all over the US. Most hosting companies roll over so easy and they are so afraid of the spotlight. Shame on them! <<<The problem does not stop there. The very absence of rules puts you at the <<<mercy of authorities elsewhere if your clients mess up. They have rules... No spam, no kiddie porn, and they will turn you in to interpol if you are a terrorist. oh... and pay your bills or you get shut off. Your statement is not true at all. It puts the uninformed in jeopardy and is the same anywhere and is highly dependant on the clients physical location. <<<With the absence <<<of rules comes the loss of protection. Yes, we are highly protected by our rules in the US. But the truth is that they make laws, then make rules and more laws and more rules and pretty soon no one knows what is going on and you have a government who is part ahead of the times and mostly way behind the times. The head doesn't give a [EMAIL PROTECTED] about you or I and the tail has no clue what is going on and they are trying to get a grip while being dragged along. If I had a choice i would prefer Sealand's 4 rules. I can follow those without confusion. <<<The protection hosting service providers enjoy through decissions and precedents in case law that held <<<that hosting businesses can not be held responsible or indeed liable for <<<what their respective customers do with the storage space they rent. I agree 100% with this except for the fact that no one is going to prosecute you from Sealand and if they did it would be unenforceable by jurisdiction. Again I have my preference. It is not case law that protects you. Case law is for when you are really under the gun and need something to fall back on. What actually protects our company is The telecommunications act of 1996, the ECPA and the 1st and 4th amendments of the Constitution. These stop out of control law enforcement from making a false case agains us. Do you enjoy these protections under the Autrailian Commonwealth? (This is where you are right?) If it is anything like New Zealand then I would guess that these same protections do not exist for you. <<<Now, that said, if indeed your assumption is correct and there is some <<<sort of conspiracy against Sealand in the works, then I'd say, which ever <<<way you look at it, you would loose. What would I lose? <<<If the conspirators succeed to mess up Sealand and/or HavenCo, then you <<<will risk loosing clients. An associate of mine suggested and I added to the idea that getting an oil tanker driver drunk and causing him to veer off course a little bit along with a shot of Sodium pentathol for kicks and memory purposes that you could just about accomplish the goal of the Government without actually starting a war. Now if the British governemnt gets any bright ideas from this we are watching you! We do not lose clients very often becasue we are honest with them when bad things happen, we are honest when we screw up something and we provide top notch service. We are also willing to defend clients from the government and out of control corporations when their is no real case by their own laws. Find me any hosting company who would do that for a client and we will sign up today. Of course this does not mean a client can come on our servers and break the law. If something like this happened our clients are intelligent enough to see the situation for what it is and we would move on together to the next best thing together I believe. <<<If the conspirators fail, then they will first <<<go after the service providers, next after the ventures based on or using <<<Sealand and finally make things difficult for everyone remotely related to <<<Sealand - such as your customers hosting there. I disagree with this statement and think it is 100% false. How could they even find out who the customers are? Are you sending your social security card to sealand to hold in their filing cabinet? They cannot go after providers and they cannot broadly go after all clients either without cause and you are also talking about an act of war here, not a legal action. For something like this to happen it has to be an act of war. now I do believe it is highly likely that the data is monitored by any governemnt that feels compelled to do so, but I feel that is the case with all internet traffic data not just Sealand/ <<<If you give it some thought, you are likely to agree that if some <<<conspirators try technical gimmickery and then a smear campaign in the <<<press, then nothing is really beneath them (sounds government inspired <<<and/or sponsored, if you ask me). Well this is childs play as they cannot blatently start a war, but the can preform psyops. I think Sealand needs the publicity and I bet they are making more sales today. <<<Now, while sticking to Sealand might earn you a medal for bravery (now, <<<there is an idea), it is not necessarily a wise business choice. Again I disagree, although I always appreciate your opinion. What is the nature of a wise business choice? Is it one where you earn a profit on your investment legally? Well then... <<<Cheers, <<<Robert Gordon H. www.katzglobal.com Anonymous Hosting(tm) Solutions --- You are currently subscribed to e-gold-list as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Use e-gold's Secure Randomized Keyboard (SRK) when accessing your e-gold account(s) via the web and shopping cart interfaces to help thwart keystroke loggers and common viruses.
