Well, this reply is long overdue, Jack. Hope you spot it.

"We" ( ;) ) aren't. You can find several Native American states in FtH, from the Cherokee Republic to Alcatraz Nation. However, while the Hopi and several other First Nations have asserted their sovereignty, they have not declared full independence.

Each of the 19 active Pueblos in New Mexico and the 1 in Arizona (Hopi) are sovereign, with fixed borders. Are we neglecting American Indian states?

Sorry about the lag in replying!

Allan- You're absolutely right. I'll correct this in my next update, which should be coming shortly.

Judson- I did consider including it, but it failed to meet my completely subjective "obscurity" requirement. It's the same thing that's kept me from covering the Napoleonic states of Italy and the Confederate States of America. It's something I decided on a while back to keep me on the right side of the "obsessive" line.

And for more notes on "why is James not updating so quickly," please check out the new blog (link on the front page). I'm in the midst of two new projects which you can follow there.

James, why no "Fascist Republic of Salo"? If there were ever a real life/fictional nation, that was it: the puppet state, ostensibly run by Mussolini but actually controlled by the Nazis, that "ruled" northern Italy from the time Mussolini was ousted in mid-1943 to his murder and the collapse of the Axis two years later. One good source, aside from ones on the Web, is A. James Gregor, *Contemporary Radical Ideologies* (1968)

Re Alamut: FYI, the home castle of the Assassins was not in central Persia. It was 37 miles north of modern Kazvin, in the Elbruz Mountains. If it had been much further north, it would have been in the Caspian Sea.

Useless?!? ;)

An excellent way of putting it. And out of curiosity, what's afp?

Picked up the ad in afp. It's always nice to find a mine of useless information. If only to keep a perspective of realpolitic on the rest of the information I come across.

History is made by people with teeth missing. All too often the perfect dentures of news reporters tends to distract from the fact.

Goto> Exactly what I mean. But the Raelians aren't quite the threat that a Kinakuta might be.

Cesidio> Fascinating stuff. I'll reply to you by email. And while we're on the subject, a note to other heads of state: please contact me by mail and not by posting here. Thanks!

Mr James Erwin,

If you are interested in a real nation that recently became a true Virtual State, you can contact me for further details. The story below, however, might serve as a good introduction.

===========================================================

The Tallinian-Bucksfanian Dream began on 9 January 2003 (9 Archimedes 2003). On that day TTF-Bucksfan made history by becoming the first nation without the approval of the United Nations or ICANN to gain legal control of its very own Top-Level Domain (TLD). The day after TTF-Bucksfan even gained control of another two TLDs, becoming in effect one of the few nations on earth controlling more than one TLD.

Then TTF-Bucksfan started to build and test a Domain Registry. By 27 February 2003 (6 Columbus 2003), TTF was able to control the DNS of the http://cesidio.god domain, TTF-Bucksfan first alternative second-level domain (the ".god" TLD is owned by The dot.GOD Registry, Limited).

Then on 5 March 2003 (12 Columbus 2003) TTF-Bucksfan achieved DNS control of its first TLD: http://gov.ttf (.ttf TLD). In the days following this technical achievement, TTF-Bucksfan gained control also of the third-level of the .ttf TLD, and attempted, unsuccessfully, to gain control of its other TLDs.

Then on 12 March 2003 (19 Columbus 2003) TTF-Bucksfan achieved DNS control of its second TLD, http://gov.bucksfan, and the day after it also achieved DNS control of its third TLD of http://gov.bucrafan.

TTF-Bucksfan is now involved in an endeavour that normally involves nation-states only. Not only is TTF-Bucksfan now doing only what nation-states normally do, but it's becoming good at it too! When was the last time you saw a nation administer 3 TLDs, and have total control of its domains on second- and third-levels? There is only one nation that administers 3 or more domains, and is able to do multilevel DNS, and that nation is a superpower!

What is next? Well, if prophesies that were made in the past about so-called "indigo children" are correct, then it seems that TTF-Bucksfan and the Fifth World Council will soon be building massive cities, "Cities of Light" on the Internet, and eventually they will learn to weave their own Internet altogether!

HM Cesidio Tallini
King of TTF-Bucksfan
President of the Fifth World Council

Email: hmcesidio@hotmail.com
URL1: http://www.microstate.org
URL2: http://www.nation-state.org
URL3: http://www.buckuniversity.org
URL4: http://www.cesidian.org
URL5: http://www.cesidian.ch
URL6: http://www.5world.org

  How about wealthy cults such as the Railliens who recently moved to Romania I think it was in order to proceed with their human cloning agenda.Presumably they have the protection of the State in which they operate.

Well, Sealand is within UK territorial waters. The only question is 1) whether Sealand was recognized before the 12-km limit came into effect and 2) whether Sealand can make anyone care. Back in the 60s, someone tried a Sealand-type stunt off the coast of Italy. The Italian government sent frogmen to blow up the platform. End of that story.

As far as defense goes: under the current interpretation of international law, all land has been found and all land has been claimed. New nations can't be built or new land claimed. So any attempt at defending a data haven enclave would be officially piracy or insurrection or something of that sort.

Basically; the only real option open to an aspiring data haven is to co-opt an existing government. And then to make sure you don't run into a conflict with the existing haven countries. The Swiss have lawyers, the Bahamians have cartel connections... make no mistake, a real-life Kinakuta project would face massive difficulties, to put it lightly.

  Thanks for ur response James.I heard that UK gov are now disputing whether Sealand is in fact within UK territorial waters.The other example u mentioned begs the question of armament and if future-tech could provide means of defense which are presently unavailable in order to secure the soveriegnty of such a micronation.Any thoughts on this?

Edited by author 03-15-2003 11:38 AM
God, I loved Cryptonomicon.

My first impulse is to say that a Kinakuta could never exist, but I've learned my kneejerk responses are sometimes just that. If you asked me if a hypothetical former bishopric about the size of a county park could maintain its independence for centuries and become a major tax haven, I'd call that implausible on its face...

Basically, though, here's my thinking. If someone tried to set up a data haven (and here I'm specifically thinking of Sealand) it would threaten the existing tax havens, who have a vested interest in shutting it down and scads of money. I don't think they'll ever get off the ground. Whatever they set up, the existing havens will match. And if they can't match it, they'll flood the market with rumors of undependability and try to cripple it with lawsuits and other remedies available to established sovereign nations, which datahavens don't have. Tonga invaded Minerva and built over it, after all.

  What did u make of the fictional datahaven in Neil Stephensons Cryptonomicon? Will a real-life Kinakuta someday exist and where are the likely candidates?

*high five* Thanks, mystery guest!

(are we talking very short or just a little shorter?)

HAY YOU! Looks like they found out how cool you are. Congratulations on being in the top 100 at PC mag. Much love, friend.