Sealand is a freaking oil rig. Countries don't become accepted as countries by declaring themselves as such. They become countries by having a sizeable military to protect their claims OR the threat of other established nations' sizeable militaries protecting their claims as allies.<p>It's part of the reason I hate the concept of countries but unfortunately that's the status quo.<p>If Sealand did something that the world hated enough, the US military would probably take them out in a heartbeat. They are just not doing enough for people to actually care that much.
I'm somewhat astonished that the article doesn't even mention HavenCo, the world's first (and likely last) attempt at a sovereign data haven, based in Sealand:<p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HavenCo" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HavenCo</a>