HavenCo: One Year Later Ryan Lackey Defcon 9 15 July 2001
Overview Roughs Tower in 1942 Sealand occupied in 1966 HavenCo started last summer Full-scale sales started early 2001 Monthly cashflow breakeven in May
Fundamental choice Harmonized legislation across all nation states, individual liberty at risk Offshore “havens”, including purely virtual ones, allowing users to get around restrictions
What have you done so far? Summer 2000: IP service, reliable power, logistics; also press Fall 2000: Bringing up high-speed internet Winter 2000: Bringing in some reseller and consultant customers Spring 2001: Sales into key markets Summer 2001: Reseller program, expansion
Good and bad Lots more press coverage Strong customer interest in key markets No legal/governmental challenges All our customers are pretty upstanding Press take a lot of time Investment market downturn Logistics issues complicated Vendors having financial difficulties No webspace reseller Long lead times
Sealand’s legal status Abandonment, was constructed for unrelated purpose Only residents formed self-government 30-year documents Firing on buoy tender SS tax not need to be paid, nor TV license Invasion, counterinvasion, diplomats Territorial integrity for years
Major technical challenges Reliable networking: last mile pipes Lots of support overhead for customers; popularity of WinNT 4.0 Transportation and scheduling; moving food, fuel, etc., so need for large onsite cache
Customer questions First: are you for real? Second: will I be at risk in my own country Third: Pricing Fourth: Payment processing, legal incorporation
Key markets Offshore businesses from existing offshore jurisdictions with lesser connectivity Backup for existing offshore locations Backup for onshore Gaming, payment systems, offshore , resellers
What do customers get? Colocated box, sold at cost. High-end hardware, USD Setup in 2-3 days now, soon inside a day Monthly colo and bandwidth: USD 1500 with 256Kbps or USD 2500 for 1024Kbps Support, consulting, advice
Customer examples Casinos and casino resellers, licenses and tax Adult payment processors, mainly tax Resellers, consultants Intranet, corporate Backup sites
Daily life on Sealand A few people onsite, one or two technical people plus the onsite security/maintenance 90% of the technical work is very simple, some challenges, usually at 2am Easier to deal with US vs. UK vendors; confuses a lot of companies re: which to use
Why did you do it in the first place? Looking for a place to host our own payment system projects and other offshore applications Pro-liberty Interesting technical challenge
Key lessons for competitors Go for minimum investment, proof of concept Quality angel investors are the best source of investment Early customers are key; lots of feedback Smaller number of staff, minimize infrastructure and overhead; garage startup vs. VC-funded Key target markets, avoid distraction
Technical things we want More secure host operating systems Higher bandwidth to Sealand Tamper-resistance on more applications Widely used p2p and pro-anonymity apps Offshore payment systems
Future plans Continued expansion and improvement of Sealand; continue to enhance Sealand’s sovereignty Partnerships with consulting vendors, etc. to provide more complex solutions to customers Potential future expansion elsewhere, partnership