Any unreasonable government could sink one of these with one bombing run. It would be a sitting duck.
No, for the same reasons no government has bombed a cruise ship:
Vessels fly the flag of a nation, and attacking a vessel like that means declaring war on that nation.
There is no economic incentive.
PS: I'm one of the co-founders of Blueseed, the first commercial seasteading venture, back in 2011. This is the last arrogant comment I will be engaging with here. Most of the other "objections" have been answered over and over, and we've even put up an FAQ at blueseed.com/faq.
...is Google, via a feature in Chrome to share comments across all Google users. I don't foresee that happening any time soon.
As others have pointed out, there have been quite a few comment layers over arbitrary web pages, but none of them reached critical mass.
According to this CBS Local article, construction stopped a few weeks ago due to a lack of permits:
The reason: Google does not have a permit for a floating anything.
“Google has spent millions on this,” said an insider close to the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission. “But they can’t park this barge on the waterfront without a permit, and they don’t have one.”
A BCDC official confirmed the agency has held discussions with Google about “hypothetical operations” on the water, but he complained the tech giant has been vague about how the barge would be used.
According to this CBS Local article, construction stopped a few weeks ago due to a lack of permits:
The reason: Google does not have a permit for a floating anything.
“Google has spent millions on this,” said an insider close to the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission. “But they can’t park this barge on the waterfront without a permit, and they don’t have one.”
A BCDC official confirmed the agency has held discussions with Google about “hypothetical operations” on the water, but he complained the tech giant has been vague about how the barge would be used.
You don't have to submerge a barge to keep it in one spot. There are two easier options: mooring (a few $M upfront cost) and Dynamic Positioning (high running cost).
If you read through the Wikipedia article you quoted, you'll learn that OTEC only really works in warm waters, where the heat difference between surface and depth is large enough. The best US location for OTEC is Hawaii, and there's only one functioning OTEC plant in the world, near Japan.
So Google is most likely not building an OTEC plant, or they'd do so in a very different shipyard instead of on Treasure Island.
Steve Blank should stop lamenting and instead invest in Blueseed. Now THAT's hardware.
Blueseed is a visa-free startup community located on a cruise ship 30 minutes from the coast of Silicon Valley, in international waters outside the jurisdiction of the United States.
Very well put. There's nothing radical about Blueseed. People from Vancouver have been traveling to Silicon Valley for tens of years to conduct business. Blueseed is legally just like Vancouver, but closer.
Crime will be handled the same way it's been handled on cruise ships that have transported tens of millions over the past 30 years. http://www.blueseed.co/faq.html#laws
Also, it's one thing to steal someone's wallet on a cruise, knowing you won't see them again, vs. on the ship that's practically the town you both live in.
How in the world do you expect a sweatship for startup entrepreneurs online 24/7, to survive in the press spotlight near California's coast? Have you the faintest idea about the PR implications?
VCs aren't after "offshore talent". They're looking for high-growth startups. Plus, Blueseed wasn't started by VCs, but by immigrant entrepreneurs (look at the bios of the founders).
And please drop the silly argument about "enslaving". If someone doesn't like it on the ship, they leave. Do you realize the amount of press the ship will get? If anyone is in the least unhappy, that would lead to a PR disaster to Blueseed. Slavery? Please.
The laws that apply on the ship will be those of the flag country - www.blueseed.co/faq.html#laws
Cruise ship shave a 30+ year precedent of ensuring order and safety aboard.
Google and Yahoo! have been started by immigrant founders. Now they're employing tens of thousands of people. The US of A is quite desperately looking for ways to boost entrepreneurship. The USCIS has an Entrepreneurs in Residence program to understand startups better. The White House supports that too, see Strengthening Immigrant Pathways for Job-Creating Entrepreneurs.
I should've linked to the Blueseed FAQ in my original post. It answers a lot of the silly counter-arguments (though not those as silly as "Pirates!!!" - When has anyone last seen pirates near California?). To sum up:
* why not telework/conference call all the time: because that doesn't work for startups in their early stage, and because no investor will invest in a startup without meeting the team in person; also because you can't go to startup events via Skype
* the whole libertarian red herring - Blueseed has nothing to do with a political system or another. It's an entrepreneurial solution to a very clear problem: the lack of visas for foreign entrepreneurs. AILA (the Association of Immigration Lawyer of America) explains it very clearly in this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLCYfhZEFb8#t=3m15s: "There are simply no US visas available for immigrant entrepreneurs"
* the whole tax haven or lawlessness red herring: Blueseed is JUST LIKE Vancouver, in the sense that Microsoft employees come to Silicon Valley all the time from Vancouver to conduct business, then they fly back. There's nothing radical about Blueseed, other than it being much closer than Vancouver. Also, the entire cruise ship industry has been functioning for years and is a clear precedent that laws do apply on cruise ships, and people don't just go murder each other.
* the exploitation red herring: how in the world would you think that Blueseed will be on anything BUT best behavior when everybody on board is online pretty much 24/7, and the entire ship will be in the brightest press spotlight?
Seasickness is an important concern for the startup entrepreneurs aboard, and it will be vastly mitigated by the size of the Blueseed vessel (190m x 45m in one configuration).
1. In a zone contiguous to its territorial sea, described as the contiguous zone, the coastal State may exercise the control necessary to:
(a) prevent infringement of its customs, fiscal, immigration or sanitary laws and regulations within its territory or territorial sea;
(b) punish infringement of the above laws and regulations committed within its territory or territorial sea.,
2. The contiguous zone may not extend beyond 24 nautical miles from the baselines from which the breadth of the territorial sea is measured.
Essentially, the 12 to 24 NM area is a "hot pursuit zone". Earning a wage 12.1NM from shore is perfectly legal.
Since an individual needs a US visa to get to San Francisco in order to board the Blueseed vessel, they'll be able to come back on shore as long as they spend less than 180 days a year on the mainland.
In case of severe storm or other emergency, the ship can come to shore under force majeure and preserve its jurisdiction, which will be an open registry state like Malta or The Bahamas.
Regrettably, the OP didn't include a link to our FAQ, which would have cleared up many concerns.
We'll be anchored 12 nautical miles (22 km) offshore. The water depth is around 250ft, as can be seen on Google Earth.
For internet connectivity, we'll be using solutions similar to the Ubiquity Solution radios and antennas - range 75km, bandwidth 150Mbps per combo. Satellite backup from Skycasters (6Mbps/1.5Mbps) is only $100/mo as long as your main line is up.
One of the accommodation barges we're thinking of is 190m x 45m.
SwedishChef, given your experience, we're definitely interested in your constructive input. Drop us a line if you'd like at http://blueseed.co/contact-us.html
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Any unreasonable government could sink one of these with one bombing run. It would be a sitting duck.
No, for the same reasons no government has bombed a cruise ship:
PS: I'm one of the co-founders of Blueseed, the first commercial seasteading venture, back in 2011. This is the last arrogant comment I will be engaging with here. Most of the other "objections" have been answered over and over, and we've even put up an FAQ at blueseed.com/faq.
...is Google, via a feature in Chrome to share comments across all Google users. I don't foresee that happening any time soon. As others have pointed out, there have been quite a few comment layers over arbitrary web pages, but none of them reached critical mass.
In addition to the one above (USCG Doc. No. 1243693), here's another one on the way: USCG Doc. No.: 1225103.
You don't have to submerge a barge to keep it in one spot. There are two easier options: mooring (a few $M upfront cost) and Dynamic Positioning (high running cost).
If you read through the Wikipedia article you quoted, you'll learn that OTEC only really works in warm waters, where the heat difference between surface and depth is large enough. The best US location for OTEC is Hawaii, and there's only one functioning OTEC plant in the world, near Japan. So Google is most likely not building an OTEC plant, or they'd do so in a very different shipyard instead of on Treasure Island.
Steve Blank should stop lamenting and instead invest in Blueseed. Now THAT's hardware.
Instead of going through the effort to work on a ship of Bahamian registry, why not move to the Bahamas?
The value proposition is proximity to Silicon Valley - http://www.blueseed.co/faq.html#silicon_valley
See http://www.blueseed.co/faq.html#silicon_valley. And again, Blueseed will host startups. The project that intended to host coders was Sea Code, http://sea-code.com/
Very well put. There's nothing radical about Blueseed. People from Vancouver have been traveling to Silicon Valley for tens of years to conduct business. Blueseed is legally just like Vancouver, but closer.
Correct - http://www.blueseed.co/faq.html#laws and correction - http://www.blueseed.co/faq.html#silicon_valley
Also, it's one thing to steal someone's wallet on a cruise, knowing you won't see them again, vs. on the ship that's practically the town you both live in.
How in the world do you expect a sweatship for startup entrepreneurs online 24/7, to survive in the press spotlight near California's coast? Have you the faintest idea about the PR implications?
VCs aren't after "offshore talent". They're looking for high-growth startups. Plus, Blueseed wasn't started by VCs, but by immigrant entrepreneurs (look at the bios of the founders). And please drop the silly argument about "enslaving". If someone doesn't like it on the ship, they leave. Do you realize the amount of press the ship will get? If anyone is in the least unhappy, that would lead to a PR disaster to Blueseed. Slavery? Please.
The laws that apply on the ship will be those of the flag country - www.blueseed.co/faq.html#laws
Cruise ship shave a 30+ year precedent of ensuring order and safety aboard.
Google and Yahoo! have been started by immigrant founders. Now they're employing tens of thousands of people. The US of A is quite desperately looking for ways to boost entrepreneurship. The USCIS has an Entrepreneurs in Residence program to understand startups better. The White House supports that too, see Strengthening Immigrant Pathways for Job-Creating Entrepreneurs.
I should've linked to the Blueseed FAQ in my original post. It answers a lot of the silly counter-arguments (though not those as silly as "Pirates!!!" - When has anyone last seen pirates near California?). To sum up:
We've done a lot of research about seasickness, and it won't be much of a problem for an accommodation barge of the size we're considering.
And entire pipedream industry worth $30Bn.
If anyone wades through the insightful comments up to this point,
1. Blueseed has an FAQ that answers a lot of concerns
2. Peter Thiel is now onboard
Seasickness is an important concern for the startup entrepreneurs aboard, and it will be vastly mitigated by the size of the Blueseed vessel (190m x 45m in one configuration).
More at http://www.blueseed.co/faq.html#seasickness
http://www.blueseed.co/faq.html#telepresence
1. In a zone contiguous to its territorial sea, described as the contiguous zone, the coastal State may exercise the control necessary to:
(a) prevent infringement of its customs, fiscal, immigration or sanitary laws and regulations within its territory or territorial sea;
(b) punish infringement of the above laws and regulations committed within its territory or territorial sea.,
2. The contiguous zone may not extend beyond 24 nautical miles from the baselines from which the breadth of the territorial sea is measured.
Essentially, the 12 to 24 NM area is a "hot pursuit zone". Earning a wage 12.1NM from shore is perfectly legal.
In 2010, there were 298,187 B1 and B2 visas granted to Indian nationals, 508,968 to Chinese ones, 83k to Philippines etc., for a total of 3.68M B1/B2 visas - http://www.travel.state.gov/xls/FY10NIVDetailTable.xls
Since an individual needs a US visa to get to San Francisco in order to board the Blueseed vessel, they'll be able to come back on shore as long as they spend less than 180 days a year on the mainland.
In case of severe storm or other emergency, the ship can come to shore under force majeure and preserve its jurisdiction, which will be an open registry state like Malta or The Bahamas.
Regrettably, the OP didn't include a link to our FAQ, which would have cleared up many concerns.
We'll be anchored 12 nautical miles (22 km) offshore. The water depth is around 250ft, as can be seen on Google Earth.
For internet connectivity, we'll be using solutions similar to the Ubiquity Solution radios and antennas - range 75km, bandwidth 150Mbps per combo. Satellite backup from Skycasters (6Mbps/1.5Mbps) is only $100/mo as long as your main line is up.
One of the accommodation barges we're thinking of is 190m x 45m.
SwedishChef, given your experience, we're definitely interested in your constructive input. Drop us a line if you'd like at http://blueseed.co/contact-us.html