Pirate Bay to Purchase Sealand?

paulraps writes "Notorious Swedish file-sharing website The Pirate Bay is planning to buy its own nation in an attempt to get around troublesome international copyright laws. The organization, the world's largest bit torrent tracker, has set its sights on Sealand, a former British naval platform in the North Sea that has been designated a 'micronation' and claims to be outside UK jurisdiction. With a target price of £500m it won't be cheap, but Pirate Bay says contributors will become honorary citizens."

Comments

Arrr!

[Rob T Firefly]

Pirates and the sea! Aye, this be a perfect match if ever there be one.

Re:Arrr!

[Ceriel Nosforit]

No, it's not even close.

Re:Arrr!

[LordEd]

It's not like Sealand will have oil, and no history to suggest it ever did or ever will (unlike Iraq.)

I corrected it for you.

Re:Arrr!

[gardyloo]

Welcome to Petoria!

Re:Arrr!

[Anonymous Coward]

France doesn't do that anymore and people still consider it a country.

Re:Arrr!

[eno2001]

OK. Let's put it another way for you monkeys to comprende. Capiche?

They buy Sealand and become a sovereign nation to avoid prosecution. The RIAA, MPAA and BSA all band together and officially buy the U.S. government and military/industrial complex. Bush becomes an RIAA, MPAA, BSA executive by default. He declares a pre-emptive strike on Sealand to both curry favor with his, now official, bosses AND to distract from the disaster that is Iraq. "Shock and Awe" is employed but on a smaller scale so that Sealand isn't totally destroyed. The liberals go into hand wringing mode for the downtrodden pirate land peoples. Areas of Sealand (no larger than two feet by two feet) are occupied by American forces, while the Pirate Bay folks hide in ventilation shafts with Osama. American troops are ravaged by spitball artillery attacks launched from various vents on the compound. The leader of the Pirate Bay goes on pirate radio to bring the troops over to their cause as a sort of "Tokyo Rose" with an attitude. This drags on for four years with casualties on both sides. Republicans despise the Pirate Bay people on principal. Liberals hold them up as modern day heroes, but since the media is all controlled by the RIAA, MPAA and BSA, they can't get the message out that easily and have to resort to holding up index cards at their local supermarket with "Free the Repressed Peoples of Pirate Bay" and "Bring the Troops Home". Yeah. I can see it now.

Re:Arrr!

[cptgrudge]

As long as we're entering the realm of fantasy, can I get a pony?

Re:Arrr!

[focitrixilous P]

Maybe this is too obvious, but why not STEAL sealand? The Pirate Bay sounds like the perfect group to do so. If they are an independant state, UK law enforcement won't do a thing about it. I think the whole matter is hilarious to begin with, and being taken over by a group of Swedes trying to get in touch with their Viking roots would be the most amazing thing ever.

Would the current owners mount a physical defense, or would they just whine about it in International Courts? Just get a couple boats that can make the 8 mile trip, load up with tough acting college kids with guns and a couple people that know what they are doing, and just storm the platform. The media would eat it up and Pirate Bay gets an actual Pirate Bay.

I'd probably go myself this summer, who needs internships when a summer of swashbuckling adventure and romance aboard a stationary platform in the middle of nowhere with nothing to do but stand around looking intimidating to prevent someone else from doing the same thing. Way better than maybe getting a simple project and being the coffee boy.

And the **aa would say..

[Caffeinebot]

If they do that, the terrorists would win!

Re:And the **aa would say..

[kalirion]

So if the **aa stops talking, terrorists will no longer have won? Would they lose retroactively?

Welcome to the club

[ziggamon2.0]

Seems like the axis of evil is getting a new member!

Hmmm...

[psykl0n3]

WOuldn't this be even more dangerous though? Now, MPAA and RIAA would actually be lobbying for military action against the Sealand nation... Imagine that, sorry our servers are down due to an air strike... Please donate to purchase more airplanes and subs.

What rights Would Citizens have?

[akaris1]

I can't wait to sign my john hancock! The one thing I want in the bill of rights is the right to do the dew and eat peanut butter cups

Re:What rights Would Citizens have?

[Howserx]

don't forget to add the right to bare arms. No shirts and ties for me when it gets hot!

The National Anthem of Sealand

[Van Cutter Romney]

We download, we copy, we share and loot
No more DRM me hearties, yo ho
We file swap and upload and don't give a hoot
No more MPAA me hearties, yo ho

Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me

Re:Perfect!

[Rob T Firefly]

I want to watch that movie! Anyone have a .torrent?

Re:Hmm . A bit slow thought.

[operagost]

Seaworld? Are they going to use TCP/IP over dolphin carrier?

Account number?

[XSforMe]

Please donate to purchase more airplanes and subs.
You mean we actually get to fire live ammo on the MPAA/RIAA lawyers? Can you repost the account number accepting these donations?

Re:Boom

[Joebert]

Hey, Bush can't pronounce Nuclear & he's running the country.

Re:What are the odds?

[CmdrGravy]

And even if they do get the money who is going to trust a bunch of pirates with £500 Million. With that money in the bank buying a rusting steel coffin in the middle of nowhere is not going to look like a very good option compared to building yourself a well defended palace on some tropical island somewhere and living like a Pirate King for the rest of your life.

Re:Theres a problems with this.

[AlphaLop]

Wow, What a great plan. That only leaves one question... Do you work for the government or the Mafia? Either way I think you have the right mindset..... And I like the way you think :)

Bush announcement, one day after

[Anonymous Coward]

> then you should just do the same as the current owner did: occupy it.

Bush: It has come to my attention that pirates have taken over Sealand. Now I like pirates. Johnny Depp is a good actor. But I also like seals. When a pirates invade Sealand, I have a problem with it. We need to deploy 12 troops to liberate Sealand, and maybe another one or two to crush the pirate insurgency. Now I know that willing will not be easy, but it is won war we cannot afford to lose.

TCP/IP Over Dolphon

[maroberts]

Are they going to use TCP/IP over dolphin carrier?

TCP/IP over Aquatic Mammal carriers, as it is more officially known, is simply an modification of
RFC1149 (A Standard for the Transmission of IP Datagrams on Avian Carriers).

The above spec has been "embraced and extended" for Aquatic Mammal use; (much) larger packet sizes are supported, as well as a separate optional High Frequency Audio command channel, which is sometimes used for Relay transmission of packets, and the possibility of dynamic packet routing..

Re:waste

[Provocateur]

I think it's worth it.

Just to be able to pose for a famous painting, from a lo-angle perspective, with the flag waving in the background against a bright blue sky, and each pirate facing in a different direction, chins up brimming with the confidence that this piece of land is now truly theirs, is always the first official act of the governing body of any new sovereign nation, smoldering ruin or not.

Do it for us, guys. Us.

Re:problem...

[drgonzo59]

who wants to spend their entire life on a floating platform simply to pirate movies and songs?

You must be new here...

Re:Theres a problems with this.

[Anonymous Coward]

That's easy. Since the UK, Germany, and the US have all declared that Sealand is not a soveriegn nation, just ask France. They'd probably acknowledge Sealand just to piss the others off. (Hey, there's a Conch Republic embassy in Paris. ;) Of course, that might not be as officially recognized, either)

Re:Screw the account number...

[TheNinjaroach]

That part's easy - just leave.

In other news...

[haggie]

the MPAA and RIAA have announced that they have jointly purchased the USS Iowa with plans to full refurbish the decommissioned battleship to full fighting capability...