For sale: one tiny island nation off the east coast of Britain. It comes with all mod cons, including kitchen, bathroom, jail and chapel. There are stunning ocean views and plenty of privacy. Asking price: 750 million euros (HK$7.6 billion).
A Swedish file-sharing website has emerged as one of the leading contenders to buy the windswept principality of Sealand, a 550-square metre platform atop two giant hollow concrete pillars about seven nautical miles off the southeastern English coast. Owners of the Pirate Bay say they are interested in buying Sealand as a way to escape the clutches of international copyright law.
Sealand is 'already a semi-free country, so taking over it and maintaining our own legislation would be easier than getting a new country and making it independent', said Fredrik Neij, one of the owners of the Pirate Bay. Along with its own constitution, Sealand has its own currency, stamps, passports and national anthem.
The sale is just the latest in a long line of intriguing events in the island's history, which also includes allegations that a criminal gang sold phony Sealand passports to several thousand Hong Kong people before the handover.
'We are confident we can buy Sealand or co-operate with the people who want to buy Sealand,' said Mr Neij, adding that the group may work together with online poker gambling sites trying to escape US laws banning internet gaming.
'We still haven't reached an agreement. As always in negotiations, we don't know where we're going to end up,' he said by phone from Sweden.