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>
> These Princes of Sealand are living in dream world.
>
> The case on which they rely was in 1968 (at a time when pirate radios also
operated
> around the shores but outside the jurisdiction). Since then there has been
a general
> extension of jurisdiction.
>
> The Territorial Sea Act 1987, s.1(1) now provides that the territorial sea
adjacent to the
> United Kingdom (over which UK legal jurisdiction runs) shall for all
purposes be 12
> nautical miles. For further details of the baselines from which the
breadth of the territorial
> sea is to be measured, see various Orders in Council. The Act is
supplemented by the
> Territorial Sea (Limits) Order 1989 (S.I. 1989 No. 482) which establishes
the seaward
> limits of the territorial sea adjacent to the United Kingdom in the narrow
part of the Straits
> of Dover and in the vicinity of the Isle of Man.
>
> They say in their web site they do not believe the 1987 Act applies to
them. But the idea
> that they had established a form of sovereignty before 1987 is nowhere
evidenced in
> international law.
Indeed they are living in a dream world - if the British government,
currently sponsoring the RIP bill, and funding MI5's e-mail interception
centre, thought these guys were any threat they would shut them down in
a moment.
This story does suggest some limits on internet fantasists' dreams.
Cyberspace is not after all an alternate universe, off-world as it were.
Sites can jump offshore to try to evade national jurisdiction, but they
have to be located somewhere or other geographically, and that means
that governments, either acting alone or in concert, can in principle
always bring sites to heel if they choose.
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