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The Pirate Bay's REAL Plan B? The FreeNation Foundation goes online

zeropaid.com — "...is concerned with for far more than simply avoiding intellectual property laws, and has instead focused on "... the actual creation of a new country with a new governing philosophy of freedom where people could actually live." Are they the Protestants of our time?

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  • zpchrish, on 10/12/2007, -7/+165really probably not going to happen, but i think there is an idealistic child in each of us cheering for them.
    • unlimitedorb, on 10/12/2007, -38/+5You can Pirate my Bay...
    • arbguy1, on 10/12/2007, -53/+4thepiratebay.org should stick to what it does best, they'll need the billions to fight the inevitable lawsuits.
    • jetsetgo, on 10/12/2007, -2/+29Here's the official website:
      http://www.freenationfoundation.org/
    • jetsetgo, on 10/12/2007, -1/+19@arbguy

      RTFA, TPB isn't officially affiliated with the FreeNation Foundation.
    • hambend, on 10/12/2007, -19/+8Imagine the power and responsiveness of wikis and social networks brought to bear on the problem of running a country... all you need is something like digg with some kind of executive capacity and BAM, no government required.

      I want this to work more than anything in the world...
    • mgainor, on 10/12/2007, -6/+37"Imagine the power and responsiveness of wikis and social networks brought to bear on the problem of running a country... all you need is something like digg with some kind of executive capacity and BAM, no government required."

      You're just precious.
    • TheRealPod, on 10/12/2007, -12/+7Why not their own satelite? China would probably even promise not to shoot it down.
    • noreturn, on 10/12/2007, -12/+8The only thing these stories about "new countries" are good for is a good laugh. Sure we've all dreamt of owning our own country in which we can do whatever we want, but at some point we all have to take a firm hold on reality and understand that starting a country is far, far more complicated than buying a geographical location.
    • wowbagger, on 10/12/2007, -17/+7Maybe they should spend the money compensating the artist they facilitate ripping off ?
    • arbguy1, on 10/12/2007, -7/+2@jetsetgo

      nevertheless, the point remains that they should save their money for eventual and inevitable lawsuits.
    • d00ley, on 10/12/2007, -1/+14@wowbagger - Maybe the RIAA should spend THEIR money compensating the artists that THEY rip off.
    • TheReport, on 10/12/2007, -7/+5"really probably not going to happen, but i think there is an idealistic child in each of us cheering for them."

      Well said, I couldnt have said it better myself
    • incubusnb, on 10/12/2007, -0/+11if it happens, i'm moving, and i know where to
    • foxhoundadmin, on 10/12/2007, -8/+2"Are they the Protestants of our time?"

      no, more like, "the Anarchists of our time;" and we all know we already have enough of those. :
    • catmistake, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1A place for freedom from tyranny...
      would be expensive to protect. Better to seek patriotism, and find a way to fix the subtle tyranny in just government. While my countrymen and I prepare to pay our annual taxes, some of which to fund the national police to protect the intellectual rights (in times like these!) of a very few, very rich, surprisingly litigious "domestic interests," I wax cynical. Honestly, Pirate Bay does not need to spend billions to remain hilarious.
    • OBKenobi, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5[quote]all you need is something like digg with some kind of executive capacity and BAM, no government required.[/quote]

      It will need to have a Jedi Council, ofcourse.
    • matthewsr2000, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3in related news, the RIAA and MPIAA (aka MAFIA) started buying islands across the globe, citing a need for room to expand their operations. . .
    • JEmerson, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7Back in the mid 90s I would have agreed with you. Digg is actually what's made me recount my former viewpoint. Direct democracy is fantastic, but only with a public that has full understanding of the issues they're voting on. Digg has amazed me with just how often even the most basic medical facts are misunderstood, or lied about, and how common it is for the majority to agree with them because the answer 'feels' right. In the absense of education, we vote with our hearts. It's just human nature. That becomes bad though, now that we're in a place where it takes four or more years to get even a basic understanding of most sciences. There's just not time for anyone to become competent in all fields. As a result, the people who actually know what they're talking about will always be outvoted by someone hawking pharmacutical conspiracy theories.
    • Grimboy, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1My god, it's just like the MPAA and RIAA said, if we remain pirates for long enough we start becoming crazy and eating idealistic children. I just can't stop, dammit.
    • Braingoo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8 PB: I told you. We're an anarcho-syndicalist commune. We take it in turns to act as sort-of-executive officer for the week...
      RIAA: Yes.
      PB: ... But all the decisions of that officer have to be ratified at a special biweekly meeting...
      RIAA: Yes, I see.
      PB:... by a simple majority, in the case of purely internal affairs...
      RIAA: [getting bored] Be quiet.
      PB:... but by a two thirds majority, in the case of more major —
      RIAA: Be quiet! I order you to be quiet!
    • smellinator, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1How to create a free nation: Start by creating a free state: http://www.freestateproject.org/

      This project has been under way for a couple of years, and is getting close! Check it out!
    • CriX, on 10/12/2007, -7/+3This is so ***** retarded! Free nation?? Freedom from complying to international copyright laws??? God, why do people root for these guys, seriously? Hey, everyone loves free *****, but that doesn't make it LEGAL or legitimate. ***** Pirate Bay and all the ***** children that think that they are ENTITLED to freely own movies and films that BUSINESSES have spent millions of dollars to produce.
  • nasium, on 10/12/2007, -1/+22A good idea in theory... Where the hell did TPB get billions from?
    • jetsetgo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+32Adverts. They're like the google of bittorrent.
    • MrMacMan, on 10/12/2007, -5/+10they didn't get billions?
      That was how much money sealand was asking for... and didn't receive because they are morons.
  • TuxedosRevenge, on 10/12/2007, -2/+16They didn't. Apparently, somewhere here on the intrawebs, there is a video of some prince of sealand refusing to to even negotiate with them.
  • nodachi, on 10/12/2007, -4/+24The idea is crazy, bold, daring. What's not to like?
    • snyff, on 10/12/2007, -3/+1Doritos eXtreme: for the bold _and_ daring.
  • karapuz, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5Its not TPB's thingy anymore. Everyone owns a piece and can participate & contribute.
  • MercedRocks, on 10/12/2007, -0/+22I didnt want to live on a funky concrete-stilt platform anyways......Grenada here I come.
  • SilenceBroken, on 10/12/2007, -13/+28The Protestants of our time? Give me a break! They are more like their namesakes--pirates--than Pilgrims or Puritans. Freedom of warez is a far cry from freedom of religion.
    • TheNik, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4Luckily, freedom of religion was only a smidgion of what the protestant reformation was about. It's more like religious defiance.
    • seibed, on 10/12/2007, -5/+9I guess it depends on your views of the legitimacy of property rights, copyrights and the ability for a government to control the usage of concepts and certain intangibles. People once thought it was a right to own slaves and people once discarded the notion that one should be free to practice their own religion, don't assume that all "ethics" and laws are anything but construct of our current society and part of a very malleable framework.
    • actorboy, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5I like to think it depends on your view of people's rights to control the distribution of things they create.
    • HUKI365, on 10/12/2007, -0/+10Seibed has it right. the Pilgrims, etc. were all about fredom of religion, to practise it and I suppose some didn't want it at all. But they were also about property rights, rights to a fair trial, etc.

      I think TPB has more in common with MY ancestors - ie, Australian convicts. lol
    • msgyrd, on 10/12/2007, -3/+2Says the guy named Actorboy.
    • smackhero, on 10/12/2007, -6/+5the protestants didn't achieve anything significant as far as i'm concerned. look at america's colonial history. the oppression of minorities and ostracizing of those with non-mainstream beliefs demonstrated that they only cared about their own religious freedom, but continued to subjugate others with their own beliefs. it's simply the act of starting a new society which allows many progressive changes to happen rapidly (but still over the timespan of centuries). tpb's plan can achieve much of the same as many societies, especially the U.S., seems to have grown culturally stagnant.

      as an atheist, i see the issue of intellectual property rights as much more important to cultural progress than religious radicalism. in fact, we ought to ditch religion altogether. it's simply another reactionary force in society.
    • MatttK, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4@actorboy: That would fly in Star Trek but the problem with reality is that people need money to live. Also, companies need money to actually do stuff. If Nintendo couldn't make money off of the games they make, there'd be no Wii. If Pizza Hut couldn't make money off of their special recipe, there'd be no Pizza Hut pizza (even if I knew the recipe and how to make it, I probably wouldn't.. that's why I go to Pizza Hut). If Tom Clancy couldn't make money off of writing his books, he probably would have stopped at the Hunt for Red October. I've only read up to The Bear and the Dragon but I thought all the books up to then were pretty awesome.

      Look, I'm all for getting more rights on what we currently own. If I have The Hunt For Red October on VHS, I should be able to view it on any device I want. In that regard, The Pirate Bay is fighting the good fight. But the other side of the coin is that they let everybody who didn't pay anything get a copy of it. I'm not going to deny that I download stuff too but maybe it'd be better if I wasn't able to. People deserve to be paid for the goods and services they produce until such a time that we have replicators, transporters, holodecks, and whatever else we need to make life free for everyone.
    • dcer, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4The internet is the replicator of digital goods in our time and yet the digital goods aren't free.

      With the current mentality there won't be any goods free even when we finaly do get the real replicators.
  • Urusai, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8I was contemplating a move to Canada, but the weather looks better on the island...
    • jetsetgo, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1My thoughts exactly.
    • Waiting2awake, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2 Heck I live in Canada and I am looking at this place. Few times in life do opertunities like this come along. We might actually be able remove the shackles of the past and finally move into the new era. At least until the old world comes knocking with their guns..

    • Herolint, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5That's easy. Don't have gun laws. Let ordinary citizens own a nuclear warhead if they want to. Then, when the old world comes knocking, you all politely answer.
    • slack31337, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2CANADA RULES!!!

      we have lots of space here that we don't even know of.I think pirate bay should pay off our corrupt government and set up shop here we will be the torrent overlords and I will be the first to welcome them/us


      //slashie slashie
      ///we need a new site called diggfark
  • OnAnyMouse, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Insert previous comments about purchasing non-sovereign territory from a sovereign government or citizen thereof, who lacks either the desire or ability to transfer sovereignty.


    What about launching a private storage / communication satellite over international waters?
    • KiDD420, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8I satellite is the best idea I have heard yet...
      Sure it will be slower, but you have a giant server in geo sync orbit that the government can't easily confiscate.
      As long as you don't piss China off they won't shoot it down. But they love warez!
    • Hoovooloo, on 10/12/2007, -7/+2They should NOT do a satellite, at least not yet. The problem is, if TPB can put up a satellite, the RIAA can also put one up... and two satellites crashing is relatively easy to pull off, and very hard to prove intentional destruction.
  • geekee, on 10/12/2007, -3/+5Look up leech in the dictionary.
  • SirNuke, on 10/12/2007, -6/+5The hippies of our time... (not necessarily a bad thing).
    • catbeller, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Yup. The Puritans were the hippies of their time, ad infinitum.
  • metalhead3767, on 10/12/2007, -8/+18Quote: "We believe our current societies are fundamentally flawed and based on wealth accumulation, and wish to create a model nation based on what we believe are the most important ideals."

    You know what this sounds a lot like? Communism
    • gregm, on 10/12/2007, -5/+7Thats exactly what I was thinking.

      Roll over George Orwell.
    • Protonz, on 10/12/2007, -5/+11All the 'kids' on the sealand forums were obsessed with communism. I tried to reason with them, but there is no use.

      Capitalism is not the problem, government is the problem.

      I couldn't believe how many people were trying to setup a police state. bah.
    • metalhead3767, on 10/12/2007, -6/+7It has so many other flaws too.
      1 America could just come in and shut down the whole thing.
      2 How hard would it be for America to pass legislation banning IP addresses from "The Pirate Nation?"
      3 How would they defend themselves? What army? What navy? Air force?
      4 How are they going to declare themselves their own nation. Is there any land in the world (besides anartica) that is unclaimed by any nation.
      5 How are they going to get bandwidth there?
    • darkbird, on 10/12/2007, -3/+10well, there actually is a thing called democratic socialism
    • idigital, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Never mind that island seems to have no infrastructure whatsoever.
    • bieber, on 10/12/2007, -3/+10I love how the moment someone talks about a society without money as sole objective, people cry "COMMUNISM!!1" The 70's are over, guys, lets wake up and realize that just because your government isn't designed to let private entities write law as effectively as possible doesn't mean you're a communist. In theory, at least, there _is_ such a thing as a society that puts the freedom of its citizens as a whole above the interests of those with all the money, and no one says it can't be democratic.
    • actorboy, on 10/12/2007, -5/+5"We believe our current societies are fundamentally flawed and based on wealth accumulation, and wish to create a model nation based on what we believe are the most important ideals [-- like taking the products created by these wealth-based nations, without their consent, and distrubiting it freely for our own google-ad- and donation-based financial gain.]"
    • smackhero, on 10/12/2007, -3/+6McCarthy would be proud... The Red Scare lives on!
    • Waiting2awake, on 10/12/2007, -2/+7 1st, corperations like the RIAA and there owners do not produce content. They distribute it. They are angry because they have become irrelevent in todays world, just as the horse and buggy was irrelevent when the car came around.

      Maybe instead of dragging the half dead ghost of past experiments around us in totality, maybe we can take the best of what we have already learned and is still relevent, and start shedding the more archaic laws/rules.

    • msoule, on 10/12/2007, -4/+3It is Communism. Wealth and its accumulation are merely representative of the value of an individuals ideas and labor. Starting from a premise that devalues the individual can only be intended to subvert an individual's efforts and humanity to the "important ideals" of the collective members. Those "important ideals" coincidentally, that go unspecified by the Free Nation Foundation.
    • msoule, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4I dugg a little further into the FNF wiki and found this interesting...

      Article 4.
      No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms.

      Article 17.
      (1) Everyone has the right to own property alone as well as in association with others.
      (2) No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his property.

      What exactly constitutes a non-"arbitrary" deprivation of a person's property. Would a vote of the collective be adequate to deprive one of the product of their labor? Would any non-arbitrary judgment merit taking an individual's labor and giving it to others? What is slavery but making one man work for another? I was almost impressed when I read Article 4 until I saw how they hedged their bet on 17.2.
    • msoule, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5I fully expect I'll be dugg down for over-intellectualizing this fiasco but the more I read the more communist and self contradictory it gets...

      Article 23.
      (1) Everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment, to just and favourable conditions of work and to protection against unemployment.
      (2) Everyone, without any discrimination, has the right to equal pay for equal work.
      (3) Everyone who works has the right to just and favourable remuneration ensuring for himself and his family an existence worthy of human dignity, and supplemented, if necessary, by other means of social protection.
      (4) Everyone has the right to form and to join trade unions for the protection of his interests.

      Article 25.
      (1) Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.
      (2) Parenthood and childhood are entitled to special care and assistance. All children, whether born in or out of wedlock, shall enjoy the same social protection.

      Article 26.
      (1) Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages. Elementary education shall be compulsory. Technical and professional education shall be made generally available and higher education shall be equally accessible to all on the basis of merit.
      (2) Education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. It shall promote understanding, tolerance and friendship among all nations, racial or religious groups, and shall further the activities of the United Nations for the maintenance of peace.
      (3) Parents have a prior right to choose the kind of education that shall be given to their children.
    • OBKenobi, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2[quote]Capitalism is not the problem, government is the problem.[/quote]

      A government controlled by monopolists is the problem. What we have in America is neither a true Democracy, nor genuine capitalism. Corporate influence within the government is just as bad as religious influence.

      Without corruption, governments are beneficial. Do you really think we'd be better of with anarchy or with the Ken Lays of the world in charge? Who's going to be there to put all the Ken Lays in jail?

      Yes, the Jedi could, but that's another topic...
  • Hardcase, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5Somehow I don't think that Grenada will let Ile de Caille secede. And if you think that they're the Protestants of our time, you really need to crack open a history book.
  • endtime, on 10/12/2007, -2/+15Without taking a stance on music/software piracy, I'm going to give "Are they the Protestants of our time?" a big, fat no. Terrible analogy.
    • d00ley, on 10/12/2007, -4/+2Is anybody R'ingTFA? It's not PirateBay, *****.
  • idigital, on 10/12/2007, -2/+7Does anyone remember "Oceania"? There was a lot of hype in the early 90's for a similar idealistic project that crashed and burned, probably due to it being just a bit flakey. This doesn't seem exactly realistic either.
    • zephc, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I remember it. And I was thinking that if something like this took off, the only way to support an increasing population would be to extend the livable surface area with floating pylons a la Oceania (site is still up at http://oceania.org/ )
  • Hardcase, on 10/12/2007, -4/+2"The ‘Core’ or ‘Committee’ is the name of a group of users currently running the administrative side of the FreeNation project while it’s in its initial stages. The community will receive complete control once the organization has officially formed and a feasible plan laid out."

    Just like China!

    Bonus points, though, for correct use of apostrophes.
  • Rossimo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8The only nation full of men....
  • monkeyrun, on 10/12/2007, -5/+3all hail the new communist overlord.
  • Uhrzeitlich, on 10/12/2007, -5/+3I love TPB and I agree that current society is fundamentally flawed, but come on...this is just crazy talk.
  • sfacets, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5Don't compare them to Protestants, please...
    • bourneagain, on 10/12/2007, -2/+7Agreed, please don't compare us to protestants.
  • idigital, on 10/12/2007, -3/+4"nothing helps to create a utopia more than to be located on a deserted tropical island"

    Oh yeah, grand social experiments on deserted tropical islands could never go wrong.
    • catbeller, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2They never go wrong on large landmasses to the west of Europe, either. What's this about showing pictures of Saddam hanged to the torturees of Gitmo? Where does that fit into the Great Experiment?
  • Wizardo55, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3FTA: "Today many of the initial goals have been achieved, mainly a structure for the foundation to operate on and the openness for anyone to participate."

    Hahahahah, can you say "open source country?"
    I really hope this works or at least gets off the ground, could really make the world a lot more interesting in a GOOD way.
  • Stevethegreat, on 10/12/2007, -3/+3They haven't thought for the most obvious, that every country runs on economy, incomes. They should trade, but what should they trade if they are the nation of the free (goods)? It's not improbable it's unachievable, you can't build a nation on ideals alone, nor their initial countries would support them, except if they have a billionaire amongst them who would support the country till they find a way to survive by themselves.
    • ApeInago, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3a nation of free ideas... not goods. DUH!
    • Stevethegreat, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I put goods in parenthesis because I wasn't sure about it. Even so, such a small island would be close to impossible to support an industrial economy, a single factory would make it inhabitable.
  • raid517, on 10/12/2007, -4/+5Spurred on by some initial success, it seems that the PirateBay founders may be descending into megalomania. Hell I'm the biggest pirate I know, but get real.

    Who I wonder will 'rule' this new country?

    The problem is that when you think you are untouchable, or invincible, that is when the ***** usually hits the fan.

    I know I will probably get dugg down for saying this, but it seems the PirateBay owners may be loosing grip of reality.
    • idigital, on 10/12/2007, -2/+6Actually you'll get dugg down for saying TPB founders have anything to do with this, as it says in the article "...we are no longer affiliated with them."
    • idigital, on 10/12/2007, -3/+4Why am I being dugg down and he's being dugg up? This has nothing to do with "PirateBay founders may be descending into megalomania", this is a spinoff of TPB Sealand effort that is no longer affiliated with them. It's people that bought the hype of TPB buying sealand and thinking they can do something better with the concept, descending into megalomania. Read the article.
    • raid517, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Yeah, as if trying to buy a James Bond secret base type oil rig in the middle of the North Sea wasn't crazy enough.
  • vuke69, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Looks nice...

    http://maps.google.com/maps?q=Grenada&ie=UTF8&oe=UTF-8&client=firefox-a&om=1&z=15&ll=12.306125,-61.584592&spn=0.033292,0.050297&t=h
  • idigital, on 10/12/2007, -2/+0Also I doubt that the "Freenation Foundation" is a properly registered foundation. Where will all of the donations end up, has this even been considered in the "tough questions like Law & Order, Politics and Society, Infrastructure & Environment, Economy & Trade, and of course Funding & Public Relations"? You don't just whack on a term like "Foundation", and imho before this site even launched they should have at least worked what they'll do with donations.

    Never mind, it seems they haven't even gotten a donation page up yet.
  • biggrz, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2maybe I'm the only one thinking the RIAA would love to get all their enemies onto a single island all at once....?

    BOOM

    /anyone else need a tin foil hat?


  • SlipStream89, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1http://www.privateislandsonline.com/cupid-island.htm

    they should buy that place, its close to resorts so we can leech off of their wi-fi. plus the cost is only 75K-1M USD
  • dhughes, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1 They should offer the two billion to the people of St. Pierre and Miquelon off the coast of Newfoundland, it's a territory of France but it's in Canada, well a few miles off the coast of a province. They would be very close to trans-Atlantic undersea cables too.

    Then again Ile de Caille is in a far nicer spot, there's no fog, iceburgs and cod.
    • catbeller, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1The weather will warm up pretty soon.
    • captainchris, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1what? yeah, i'm sure the french would love to hand that island with a fairly big history to someone else.
  • wowbagger, on 10/12/2007, -7/+5No, they are the scumbag thieving ***** of our time.
    • ApeInago, on 10/12/2007, -4/+4who are they stealing from exactly?
      copywrite cases are not catigorized the same as grandtheft and/or larsony.
    • OBKenobi, on 10/12/2007, -3/+4[quote]No, they are the scumbag thieving ***** of our time.[/quote]

      No, that would be Halliburton.

      And the RIAA for that matter.
    • catbeller, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1Did something turn up missing? No?
  • inarguable, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4From a legal standpoint, about the only option Pirate Bay has to truly gain a chunk of 'land' they can rule over would be to set up shop on an iceberg somewhere, or on a chunk of fresh break-off from the Ross Ice Shelf (remember, some of those break-offs are hundreds of square miles in size, and can last for hundreds of years). Not entirely ridiculous when you think about it, and rather than spending hundreds of millions to buy it, you just take the damn thing and then get to spend ALL that dough on sprucing the place up a little. I havent been able to find any precedent for this anywhere, and it is a potential legal/financial loophole that could be exploited.

    Now, with that being said, i have to say some of the quotes in the article sound like i am reading the transcript from a communist propaganda speech, but oh well.
    • idigital, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Did you read the bit where it says they're not affiliated with The Pirate Bay?
    • inarguable, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Did you read the bit where i said that "some of the quotes in the article"? Notice i never attributed those quotes to Pirate Bay? Don't question my reading ability when you clearly should be more worried about your own skills in that area.
  • flowctrl, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2By the time the polar ice caps finish melting, probably in a decade, Ile de Caille will be underwater.
  • Crimsoneer, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3You people need to stop being so cynical, even if you are only being realistic. It might only have a 0.001% chance of working, but hell, if it did, it might just be worth it.
    • catbeller, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1And one chance in a million successes turn up one time out of ten, according to Discworld wizards. Always worth firing that arrow.
  • Nick22, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Why the hell is everyone talking about RIAA and TPB and whatnot, TPB has zero part in the creation of Free Nation Foundation, except for them getting a group of people together, which broke off into FNF. Other than that TPB isnt related to this at all.

    But ya
    http://www.freenationfoundation.com , incase you didnt see the other comment
  • universltravlr, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5they should change the name from Freedom Foundation to "The Dharma Initiative"
  • bourneagain, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Long Live the Isle of the Free
  • adrenaline33, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1If you go to the actual site and read some of the forums, you will realize that the idea has nothing to do with TPB at this point. The Pirate Bay founders became so intrigued with the Free Nation idea that they switched gears and made that the main focus of the donation campaign. I'm sure the people living there would share all of their files with each other at will, but I don't think this would piss anyone off too bad considering the size of the island. Also, I am pretty sure from what I've read that they wouldn't even make the new island/country be affiliated with TPB at all, at least not for a while.

    They understand that the hardest part of the project will be to get enough cash to both move there, and to set up infrastructure. They do have some good ideas, though. One of their ideas is to make this country a place where stem cell and other controversial medical research could go on at will. Yeah, that would be difficult, but if you think about it, there might be a company that would risk a few million to have a chance at being the first and only one to discover a huge medical breakthrough. That being said, the whole project will likely never actually happen, but there is something about living on a tropical island, in a new country that gets a lot of people really excited. And if one rich guy gets this excited then who knows.
    • snostorm, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1In fact it wasn't anybody from the TPB group who branched off, it was regular users in the buysealand.com forums (setup by TPB) who saw the project lacked direction and saw the pirating factor as a hindrance to the cause and started FNF as an independent project from there.
  • Guderian, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1The answer for Pirate Bay is really simple. Locate servers on an indian reservation. Works for gambling sites. law enforcement won't go near the place.
    • d00ley, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1You must not understand the state of reservations. US law enforcement routinely invade reservations for many different reasons. For example, with no legal authority, the DEA will trespass on res. land and burn down industrial hemp crops even though, legally, the tribes have every right to grow anything on what is (in word only) the land of a sovereign nation(s).
  • thatrez, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Hi queersilver, mod me down
  • orangekid13, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1can i move there? especially if we get stuck with another dumb ***** president?
    vote for obama!
  • thatrez, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4Listen, TPB does not equal FNF. We are two separate and different organizations with different goals and objecives, and we have no contact at all with TPB with anything we do and vice versa.
    -Trez, Strategy and Logistcs divistion
    Freenationfoundation.org
    website
    http://freenationfoundation.org
    • d00ley, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3It's funny that nobody seems to be able to comprehend that fact.
  • daddiogig, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I wonder about the wisdom of these free-thinkers(???). If Manhattan is supposedly going to be mostly under water, what will happen to Happy Land when/if global warming actually happens? Hmmmmmm.
  • itseffinkasey, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1I think no matter what they buy, America will still only have to use one bomb to take care of them.... And I'm sure that bomb will be used sooner or later.
  • turbakt, on 10/12/2007, -2/+0Why not make another Sealand instead of buying it?
    • snostorm, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1There is no way under international law to make a man-made-island and have it be recognized as sovereign. Sealand happened before that came into effect.
    • chongli, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I guess you've never heard of the palm islands that were created by the UAE.
  • thatrez, on 10/12/2007, -3/+1many people seem to be confused as to who we are, and I would like to clarify for you all what the Free Nation Foundation is. This is our mission statement for the moment:
    "The Free Nation Foundation is a group of people dedicated to the idea of endeavoring on a scientific quest towards a better society" that is all. Please make note of it, and we are not the pirate bay either, although we were initially inspired by their idea to buy a country apart from the rest of the world, that is where all similarities between us end. Thanks for all the attention, and we could use it when we really "get our ***** together" and get a plan on what and how we are going to go about what we are going to do. We don't wanna go about thing half-ass ed like a certain file-sharing site we don't wish to be associated with did. In summary, We are not the pirate bay, and we are not the buysealand forums, we are the Free Nation Foundation. Thank you.

    Trez
    Strategy and Logistics
    http://www.freenationfoundation.org
    • snostorm, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3I'm thinking that comment sounds a little more official then it actually is. Just my 2 cents.
    • Democritus2, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5thatrez's opinion is NOT the official stance of the FNF
    • thatrez, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4I would like to say that my previous comment not the "official stance" of the FNF, it's just me, Trez, Replying to all the stupid things said on digg, and saying that I'm part of FNF and many comments are innacurate.
    • heinousjay, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3I hope you guys manage to pull something off, but given the insane level of disorganization going on in your forums now I'd say you're doomed to die the death of all idealistic utopias.

      Oh well, human nature.
  • TuxedosRevenge, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Just a touch.
  • Empyrean, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2So this is going to be an island full of dudes? right? hmm...
  • rdomanski1, on 10/12/2007, -3/+1Copyright law desperately needs to be reformed, but these people are doing more to hurt their cause than to help it: http://thenerfherder.blogspot.com/2007/02/internet-jurisdiction-and-creating.html
  • andrewgreve, on 10/12/2007, -3/+0If I've said it once, I've said it a thousand times: MARKET ANARCHY. Google it. Youtube it. www.freedomainradio.com www.simplyanarchy.com
  • zabouth, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3i was in the irc chan today and i have to say the oldest person in there was me and im 22. so to me it looks like kids playing a game i dont think it will happen
    • Siriuskr, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2um you just magically know everyones age?
    • armor, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2a lot of the people there were dumb people from digg...
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