[Groxx]

I thought part of the problem there is that, while they declared themselves independent, nobody would recognize their independence, thus they were still effectively under the laws of the area they were in.

If Iceland, an already-recognized nation, decides to do this, trying to get things shut down without their consent could / would be seen as an attack, and it becomes a far larger issue than simply enforcing laws within your jurisdiction.

[Rod]

Iceland may be a sovereign nation, but it has no armed forces. It's fair to say that its defense consists of its alliance with NATO, i.e., with the U.S., which implies that if the U.S. says "jump!", Iceland will ask "how high?". Considering that the U.S. government is owned by interest groups, I don't see how Iceland can become a data-haven.

[mvalle]

I doubt the US will ever invade Iceland. It will have massive consequences for the US government, it might be controlled by interest groups, but they are not all powerful, the people still do have a say.

It will be much more difficult to convince a Kentucky farmer that the US should invade Iceland with it's white Christians, as supposed a strange-sounding nation with non-white non-Christians(sad, but true).

And though Iceland doesn't have a military, it does have friends who do. It is interesting entertaining the idea of a US invasion of Iceland. It would result in an immediate hostility towards the US from many nations, as it would be to attack a friend(if they attack Iceland, they can attack us), especially from the Nordic region(whose commercial powers are not to sneeze at).

Anyways, data safe-heaven, great idea.

[Rod]

(sigh)

Dude, seriously... who's talking about invading Iceland? Are you out of your mind? I never even suggested that!!!

Did the MPAA / RIAA mafia need the U.S. military to invade Sweden to shut down The Pirate Bay's servers a few years ago? That's right, they didn't. They merely contacted their obedient, corrupted "friends" in Washington D.C., and had the U.S. government pressure the Swedish government, and the Swedish government had the Swedish police raiding The Pirate Bay... even though Stockholm is way out of U.S. jurisdiction.

Sweden has professional armed forces, defense and high-tech industries, natural resources, land. Sweden needs the U.S. less than Iceland does. This means that the U.S. can pressure Iceland whenever it wants, and Iceland will obey because the small and the weak don't make the rules. International relations are, essentially, bullying. It sucks, but being in denial won't help.

[itistoday]

> Dude, seriously... who's talking about invading Iceland? Are you out of your mind? I never even suggested that!!!

You really don't see how your words could have been interpreted that way?

[Rod]

No, I really, really don't see how my words could have been misinterpreted like that. I made it clear that, as Iceland depends too much on the U.S., it has no leverage and, thus, will be an obedient lackey whenever the boss tells it what to do.