Sealand: Freedom, Fraud, and Founding a Nation

The 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

Видео Sealand: Freedom, Fraud, and Founding a Nation канала Ad Noctem Media