Blackhat SEO – Esrun

I have always had a huge interest in Sealand which is a small area six miles off the the eastern shores of Britain. The first I heard of Sealand was when they were mentioned in a security video and I looked them up on the internet. The area was originally an outpost during the 1939-1945 war for Great Britain which was serviced by 200 men to guard Great Britain from any hostile advances on the Thames Estuary. After the war this area was abandoned until 1966 when a British family took possession of the virtual Island and began restoration. Because the Island was located in international waters, the British family claimed the existance of a new state – the Principality of Sealand. The independence of Sealand was confirmed in 1968 by a British court who confirmed that the virtual island was indeed in international waters and did not fall under the legal jurisdiction of the United Kingdom.

Over the years there have been attempts by hostiles to take over the Island which have all been defended successfully.

The Island is now used as a secure datacentre known as HavenCo, not only is the hardware and software locked down but there are armed guards on the Island at all times.

There has recently been a large fire on the Island which caused damage estimated at £500,000. Even though this fire has devastated those living on the Island and caused so much damage, the Island has pulled through fine and all systems were kept active on backups. However as you can imagine it’s very difficult to maintain such an area and Sealand are looking for donations, I have made a donation and would urge people to read into the history of Sealand and consider making a donation via their governments website.

My best wishes go to the families and staff on Sealand.

Update (4th September 2006): I received the following email from the Chief of Bureau for Sealand with regards to my donation.

——————

Many thanks for your support; it is much appreciated and highly valued.

We plan to post regular updates on progress on our government web site.

Chief of Bureau
Bureau of Internal Affairs
Principality of Sealand
SEALAND
1001
(c/o Sealand Post Bag, IP11 9SZ, UK)
Offices have been relocated to 2, The Row
opening times now by arrangement onlyÂ

——————