Sealand: Freedom, Fraud, and Founding a Nation
124The Principality of Sealand - an old military tower off the coast of England which has stood for decades since World War II. On its own, it would likely attract little attention from anybody other than dedicated history buffs. Yet, the tower has gained quite the reputation and following over the years.
Why? It has to do not just with the tower, but some very interesting people, and of the symbol into which they made it. Prince Roy, Princess Joan, Prince Michael - just some of the "royal family" of the self-declared sovereign Principality of Sealand. This video covers some of the most interesting and bizarre events of Sealand ranging from its pirate radio days to an armed takeover, attempted transformation into an offshore data storage platform, and even cryptocurrency and NFTs.
00:00 The Beginnings of Sealand
04:44 The Trial
08:09 Making Things Official
10:15 The Coup and the International Hostage
14:26 The Crime Gets Real
18:08 Internet Piracy on The High Seas
27:49 Where Are They Now?
32:54 A Note on Sources
Sources and Attributions:
http://www.offshoreradiomuseum.co.uk/page459.html - HM Knock John Fort
https://web.archive.org/web/20070302111533/http://www.seanhastings.com/havenco/sealand/judgement.html - Transcript of 1968 Court Decision
https://www.wired.com/2000/07/haven-2/ - 2000 Wired Article
https://narratively.com/the-plot-against-the-principality-of-sealand/
https://osf.io/46rd2/download - Sealand, HavenCo, and the Rule of Law (.pdf download)
https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/library/tech/00/06/biztech/articles/04have.html - Archived NYTimes article on HavenCo
https://web.archive.org/web/20080603032053/http://www.havenco.com/law.html - HavenCo law site, WayBackMachine
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/the-running-blog/2016/mar/02/running-into-a-storm-the-story-of-the-sealand-half-marathon - HavenCo half marathon
https://web.archive.org/web/20070115053756/http://buysealand.com/ - Buy sealand website
https://www.sothebys.com/en/articles/behind-the-scenes-at-a-surreal-nft-crypto-art-exhibition-deep-into-the-north-sea - Sealand NFT
https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2012/03/sealand-and-havenco/ - Article by James Grimmelman
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2000/apr/12/3 - Article on Ruiz arrest
https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2000-jun-07-mn-38378-story.html - LA Times Article on crimes surrounding document fraud, good opportunity for pull quotes from here
https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/fl-xpm-1997-07-25-9707240669-story.html - Reineck / Cunanan screenshots
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:A_close_up_of_a_.50_calibre_machine_gun._MOD_45147660.jpg - .50 machine gun
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Joi_Ito_(4).jpg - joi ito
https://www.lawschool.cornell.edu/faculty-research/faculty-directory/james-grimmelman/ - grimmelman
https://www.theverge.com/2012/3/28/2909303/sealand-havenco-doomed-data-haven-history - screenshot, havenco nationalization
https://www.wired.com/2000/07/haven-2/
https://torrentfreak.com/the-pirate-bay-to-buy-sealand/
Sealand NFT - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wsNgNF44Xw0&t=2s
Sealand YouTube Channel
Roughs Tower Falling - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pmaQOretWmg
Sealand YouTube Channel
Roughs Tower Blows Up - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMl9PKnJr3E
Sealand YouTube Channel
Sealand Football - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NEyIJYEv-m4
Sealand YouTube Channel
Sealand Anthem - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M5OMsdlsoOM
Sealand UK News 2002 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VeletZa9qQY
Sealand Reporting London - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zdLFyoXSPKw&t=19s
Sealand After the Invasion - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JgvxgYy10S4
Sealand Skateboarding - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7pHwkbDx_34
Red Bull Skateboarding
Sealand Fort 1969 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bYQphX0zPSc
Sealand Storm - https://twitter.com/SealandGov/status/1494711440887980032
Sealand Gov Twitter
Sealand Football Practice - https://twitter.com/SealandGov/status/1097473896935317505
Sealand Gov Twitter
Versace Mansion Entrance photo - By Daniel Di Palma - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=61716481
Ryan Lackey conference video attribution: Ryan Lackey - Data Havens from HavenCo to Today - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u0OoElDplbs