Sean Hastings
Encyclopedia
Sean Hastings is an entrepreneur
, cypherpunk
author, and security expert. He is best known for being the founding CEO of HavenCo
, the world's first formal data haven
.
with Vincent Cate, who started the International Conference on Financial Cryptography in Anguilla that same year.
Hastings founded HavenCo
in 2000, originally incorporating in his country of residence, Anguilla
, before a second incorporation in the Channel Islands
. Hastings was the CEO; other co-founders included Ryan Lackey
and Sameer Parekh
. Immediately following its public launch, HavenCo was the subject of a great deal of press coverage, including Hastings' appearance, along with several cofounders and the "royal family" of Sealand
, on the cover of Wired
's July 2000 issue.
In 2002, Hastings began work on seasteading
with Patri Friedman
, a project aimed at building floating communities free from the restrictions of current governments. This collaboration continued through 2009, including a talk by Hastings at the Seasteading Institute's annual conference.
Hastings is the cofounder, with Eric S. Raymond
, of Green-Span, an open source infrastructure for trust
and reputation management
, begun in March, 2009.
Hastings is also the author, with Paul Rosenberg, of a book, God Wants You Dead (Vera Verba, 2007; ISBN 978-0-9796011-1-8) which takes a look at the lighter side of atheism and anarchy.
Entrepreneur
An entrepreneur is an owner or manager of a business enterprise who makes money through risk and initiative.The term was originally a loanword from French and was first defined by the Irish-French economist Richard Cantillon. Entrepreneur in English is a term applied to a person who is willing to...
, cypherpunk
Cypherpunk
A cypherpunk is an activist advocating widespread use of strong cryptography as a route to social and political change.Originally communicating through the Cypherpunks electronic mailing list, informal groups aimed to achieve privacy and security through proactive use of cryptography...
author, and security expert. He is best known for being the founding CEO of HavenCo
HavenCo
HavenCo Limited was a data haven, data hosting services company, founded in 2000 which operated from Sealand, self-declared 'sovereign principality' that occupies a man-made former World War II defensive facility originally known as Roughs Tower located approximately six miles from the coast of...
, the world's first formal data haven
Data haven
A data haven, like a corporate haven or tax haven, is a refuge for uninterrupted or unregulated data. Data havens are locations with legal environments that are friendly to the concept of a computer network freely holding data and even protecting its content and associated information...
.
Work
In 1997, Hastings worked on cryptographic protocols and tools free of U.S. cryptographic export restrictionsExport of cryptography
The export of cryptography in the United States is the transfer from the United States to another country of devices and technology related to cryptography....
with Vincent Cate, who started the International Conference on Financial Cryptography in Anguilla that same year.
Hastings founded HavenCo
HavenCo
HavenCo Limited was a data haven, data hosting services company, founded in 2000 which operated from Sealand, self-declared 'sovereign principality' that occupies a man-made former World War II defensive facility originally known as Roughs Tower located approximately six miles from the coast of...
in 2000, originally incorporating in his country of residence, Anguilla
Anguilla
Anguilla is a British overseas territory and overseas territory of the European Union in the Caribbean. It is one of the most northerly of the Leeward Islands in the Lesser Antilles, lying east of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands and directly north of Saint Martin...
, before a second incorporation in the Channel Islands
Channel Islands
The Channel Islands are an archipelago of British Crown Dependencies in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They include two separate bailiwicks: the Bailiwick of Guernsey and the Bailiwick of Jersey...
. Hastings was the CEO; other co-founders included Ryan Lackey
Ryan Lackey
Ryan Donald Lackey is an entrepreneur and computer security professional. He was a co-founder of HavenCo, the world's first data haven...
and Sameer Parekh
Sameer Parekh
Sameer Parekh is best known for being the founder of C2Net Software, Inc.While in high school in Libertyville, Illinois, he published an underground newspaper called The Free Journal, promoting free speech and other libertarian ideas....
. Immediately following its public launch, HavenCo was the subject of a great deal of press coverage, including Hastings' appearance, along with several cofounders and the "royal family" of Sealand
Sealand
The Principality of Sealand is an unrecognized entity, located on HM Fort Roughs, a former World War II Maunsell Sea Fort in the North Sea 10 km off the coast of Suffolk, England, United Kingdom ....
, on the cover of Wired
Wired (magazine)
Wired is a full-color monthly American magazine and on-line periodical, published since January 1993, that reports on how new and developing technology affects culture, the economy, and politics...
's July 2000 issue.
In 2002, Hastings began work on seasteading
Seasteading
Seasteading is the concept of creating permanent dwellings at sea, called seasteads, outside the territories claimed by the governments of any standing nation....
with Patri Friedman
Patri Friedman
Patri Friedman is an American activist and theorist of political economy.- Background :Friedman grew up in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, and is a graduate of Upper Merion Area High School, class of 1994, where he went by the name Patri Forwalter-Friedman. He graduated from Harvey Mudd College in...
, a project aimed at building floating communities free from the restrictions of current governments. This collaboration continued through 2009, including a talk by Hastings at the Seasteading Institute's annual conference.
Hastings is the cofounder, with Eric S. Raymond
Eric S. Raymond
Eric Steven Raymond , often referred to as ESR, is an American computer programmer, author and open source software advocate. After the 1997 publication of The Cathedral and the Bazaar, Raymond was for a number of years frequently quoted as an unofficial spokesman for the open source movement...
, of Green-Span, an open source infrastructure for trust
Trust management
Trust management can be conceptualized in two ways. First, as a process by which individual A becomes trustworthy for other individuals. This trust is significant criterion of success and survival because it makes individuals to collaborate with individual A...
and reputation management
Reputation management
Reputation management , also known as directory management, is the process of tracking an entity's actions and other entities' opinions about those actions; reporting on those actions and opinions; and reacting to that report creating a feedback loop. All entities involved are generally people, but...
, begun in March, 2009.
Hastings is also the author, with Paul Rosenberg, of a book, God Wants You Dead (Vera Verba, 2007; ISBN 978-0-9796011-1-8) which takes a look at the lighter side of atheism and anarchy.