The Principality of Hutt River is no more

Discussion in 'Accreditation Discussions (RA, DETC, state approva' started by mbwa shenzi, Aug 17, 2020.

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  1. mbwa shenzi

    mbwa shenzi Active Member

    Apparently, two weeks ago it was announced that the Principality of Hutt River would be ceded back to Australia, after 50 years of 'independence'. http://www.bbc.com/travel/story/20200811-a-tiny-nation-in-outback-australia

    Some DI members of course know that the Principality has played an important role in degree mill history, something that is not mentioned in the BBC article. Neither are the many shady companies incorporated in the Principality. The story of the Hutt River Registrar of Companies who was bestowed with a knighthood by Prince Leonard Casley before he fell from grace and relocated to Vanuatu is quite interesting, though and alongside the many dodgy offshore companies, there were a number of unaccredited schools that called Hutt River home, like Southern Pacific University and Gordon University. Some still do, like Pebble Hills University and American Culture University.
     
  2. SteveFoerster

    SteveFoerster Resident Gadfly Staff Member

    Ahhh, the end of an era.
     
  3. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    Well, I think Prince Leonard picked a good place for his relocation. I believe Vanuatu has its share of "dodgy offshore companies." Vanuatu and Nauru also offer some of the best banking secrecy remaining in the world. (Best of all are said to be Nigeria and Myanmar / Burma.)
     
  4. mbwa shenzi

    mbwa shenzi Active Member

    It certainly is, but maybe modern-day mills have no need for recognition from places like the Principality of Hutt River, the Antico Principato di Seborga and the Dominion of Melchizedek anyhow. Today, all prestigious degree mills are 'globally recognized', I assume they find that sufficient.
     
  5. SteveFoerster

    SteveFoerster Resident Gadfly Staff Member

    There is that, but to me this resonates more on a "quirky plucky microstate" level than a degree mill level. It would be like the abandonment of Sealand, or something.
     
  6. mbwa shenzi

    mbwa shenzi Active Member

    You're right, Steve, thank you for reminding me about quirky plucky.

    Almost unthinkable. Anyway, the Principality of Sealand is still around and since it was established in 1967, it managed to outlive not only Hutt River but quite a few other micro-nations too.
     
  7. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    I believe Hutt River was created purely for money reasons. Prince Leonard was a farmer and had a big tax dispute with the Australian Government. So he found a way to, uh - resolve it. At one time just about any enterprise could locate and operate there -if the price was right. And they did. Mills and the "accreditation" of them were no problem. No different in that regard to other micro-"jurisdictions," e.g. Seborga.

    Sealand does stuff for money too, but they're more up-front and none of it is nefarious. You can get a Sealand title of some sort - I think it might be a knighthood - and a deed to a very small part of it - I think that's less than $100. They frequently issue nice-looking coins and stamps, too. Strictly souvenir-sellers. Hutt River was, um... more than that.

    "Hutt River, wider than a mile...etc." (apologies to Henry Mancini)
     
    Last edited: Aug 18, 2020
  8. mbwa shenzi

    mbwa shenzi Active Member

    At one point in time, a rather notorious Swedish file-sharing platform called The Pirate Bay was planning a full-scale move to Sealand, servers and everything.
     
    SteveFoerster and Johann like this.
  9. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    Arr, Matey, 'ave ye downloaded the new movie on Pirate Bay? 'Tis rated Arrrrr. :)
     
    nosborne48 likes this.
  10. SteveFoerster

    SteveFoerster Resident Gadfly Staff Member

    The infrastructure was already there -- twenty years ago Sealand was home to a data haven called HavenCo that at least had a cable connection to the UK (and perhaps one to the Netherlands as well, I don't recall whether they deployed that or merely planned it).

    But I'd say the way the Pirate Bay does it now is more efficient, since it's a lot easier for them to spin up proxies all over the world than it is for governments to shut them down.
     
  11. nosborne48

    nosborne48 Well-Known Member

    Well, there's always the Kingdom of Hawai'i.
     
  12. mbwa shenzi

    mbwa shenzi Active Member

    True that, and let's not forget the Kingdom of Bunyoro-Kitara. After all, the Omokuma of Bunyoro-Kitara, His Majesty Rukirabasaija Agutamba Solomon Gafabusa Iguru I is the Royal Patron of the European-American University.
     
  13. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

  14. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    Yes - where the reputed Monarch's ...University (seriously, now) offers a Doctor of Indigenous Knowledge program. Will I get "DIK" after my name?
     
  15. nosborne48

    nosborne48 Well-Known Member

    Um...are you folks pulling my leg?o_O
     
  16. nosborne48

    nosborne48 Well-Known Member

    No, by gosh, Rabbi Wiki has heard of them! Not sovereign but definitely extant.
     
  17. nosborne48

    nosborne48 Well-Known Member

    Unlike, say, the Kingdom of Hawai'i whose claim to sovereignty is legally (as well as practically) extinguished.
     
  18. nosborne48

    nosborne48 Well-Known Member

    Hm. Thinking about it, you could say that a smaller, weaker sovereignty exists only at the sufferance of its stronger, more powerful neighbors. International relations are a Hobbesian jungle.
     
  19. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    Are we? Nope. Would we? Oh yeah, in a heartbeat! :)
     
  20. mbwa shenzi

    mbwa shenzi Active Member

    Rabbi Wiki said in a baraita...

    Another school under the patronage of the Omokuma is the National University of Penal, Administrative and Security Sciences (sometimes referred to as the National University of Criminal and Security Sciences, or simply UNIPASS) run by a Pakistani national with two St Regis degrees. A guy associated with AAHEA, the American Association for Higher Education and Accreditation was a member of faculty at the school, and another bloke with a St Regis degree wrote an article about the Kingdom of Bunyoro-Kitara for a 2011 edition of a journal published by a rather well-known alternative university with roots in South Australia.
     

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