4 ms·

I wonder if there's any advantage for Apple to form their own sovereign nation to operate out of. They are already richer than many existing countries. Can't th

by rawnlq 11y ago

I wonder if there's any advantage for Apple to form their own sovereign nation to operate out of. They are already richer than many existing countries. Can't they just buy out a Singapore-sized island somewhere?

kevin_thibedeau 11y ago
They could invade Sealand. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Principality_of_Sealand https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Principality_of_Sealand
saulrh 11y ago
You know, cyberpunk fiction always theorized that corporations would buy their own sovereignty for economic advantage or removing pesky laws against child labor, the first amendment, or slavery. I never expected them to do it in pure, honest self-defense.
peterkelly 11y ago
I've always thought of Singapore as the "Apple" of countries. Incredibly modern, clean, organised, and well-presented. But run according to very strict rules, like banning chewing gum entirely, and $500 fines for littering.
- avar 11y ago
  Funny how a lot of Americans think banning chewing gum is oppressive but don't realize the similarity in the USA entirely banning Kinder Surprise eggs. Lots of arbitrary stuff is banned in a lot of countries. Singapore just thought the littering cons of gum outweighed the pros. Note that stuff like nicotine gum and other "therapeutic" chewing gum is still allowed, they just don't allow the candy that leads to littering. And honestly looking around in a lot of cities where the entirety of downtown is slowly growing into a white blob composed of little individual pieces of squashed chewing gum I don't blame them.
  - DigitalSea 11y ago
    > looking around in a lot of cities where the entirety of downtown is slowly growing into a white blob composed of little individual pieces of squashed chewing gum Gum wall in Seattle, case in point.
naaaaak 11y ago
If this becomes a thing, the world is going to run out of islands faster than companies can buy them to evade totalitarian governments.
- rqebmm 11y ago
  Not if the sovereign state of Applestan starts offering attractive lease options
- rawnlq 11y ago
  This is getting really off topic but this is a potential solution: https://www.quora.com/If-someone-were-to-build-an-artificial-island-in-international-waters-could-they-legally-declare-it-as-a-sovereign-nation?share=1 https://www.quora.com/If-someone-were-to-build-an-artificial... And there's only a handful of companies large enough to do this: http://www.businessinsider.com/25-corporations-bigger-tan-countries-2011-6?op=1 http://www.businessinsider.com/25-corporations-bigger-tan-co...
TazeTSchnitzel 11y ago
Some have suggested Apple use its massive cash reserves to bail out Greece.
walrus01 11y ago
ha, ha: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blueseed https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blueseed
Matt3o12_ 11y ago
Couldn't the government just ban sales from that country (i.e. Apple). They have done that for Cuba, so why not for a company , country I mean, that "supports terrorism".
snowwrestler 11y ago
There's probably no advantage; to do business in the U.S., a company must comport with U.S. laws. If Apple moved their HQ to the Sovereign Island of SteveJobistan, they would still have to follow U.S. court orders if they wanted to sell products to Americans within the borders of the U.S.
- X0Refraction 11y ago
  But would the U.S. populace put up with not being able to buy Apple devices at all? That starts sounding like restriction on free trade to the average American which is something they are much more likely to stand against as the government couldn't leverage fear to make the populace go against their own interests.
  - antihero 11y ago
    Stopping the sale of Apple devices and temporarily disabling US iPhones would probably be the singular most socially impacting event in recent history. If you want people to revolt, take their favourite toy away and blame the government.
  - snowwrestler 11y ago
    Would Apple's shareholders put up with Apple not being able to sell into the U.S. market? We're getting into "kill the company to make a point" territory, which is probably not realistic however we might imagine they do it. Whatever leverage Apple has over the federal government will come from the millions of citizens who are customers, shareholders, developers, fans, employees, etc. They can activate those people just as well from Cupertino as they can from their own island.
deleted 11y ago
[deleted]

by rawnlq 11y ago

kevin_thibedeau 11y ago

They could invade Sealand. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Principality_of_Sealand https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Principality_of_Sealand

saulrh 11y ago

You know, cyberpunk fiction always theorized that corporations would buy their own sovereignty for economic advantage or removing pesky laws against child labor, the first amendment, or slavery. I never expected them to do it in pure, honest self-defense.

peterkelly 11y ago

I've always thought of Singapore as the "Apple" of countries. Incredibly modern, clean, organised, and well-presented. But run according to very strict rules, like banning chewing gum entirely, and $500 fines for littering.

avar 11y ago
Funny how a lot of Americans think banning chewing gum is oppressive but don't realize the similarity in the USA entirely banning Kinder Surprise eggs. Lots of arbitrary stuff is banned in a lot of countries. Singapore just thought the littering cons of gum outweighed the pros. Note that stuff like nicotine gum and other "therapeutic" chewing gum is still allowed, they just don't allow the candy that leads to littering. And honestly looking around in a lot of cities where the entirety of downtown is slowly growing into a white blob composed of little individual pieces of squashed chewing gum I don't blame them.
- DigitalSea 11y ago
  > looking around in a lot of cities where the entirety of downtown is slowly growing into a white blob composed of little individual pieces of squashed chewing gum Gum wall in Seattle, case in point.

naaaaak 11y ago

If this becomes a thing, the world is going to run out of islands faster than companies can buy them to evade totalitarian governments.

rqebmm 11y ago
Not if the sovereign state of Applestan starts offering attractive lease options
rawnlq 11y ago
This is getting really off topic but this is a potential solution: https://www.quora.com/If-someone-were-to-build-an-artificial-island-in-international-waters-could-they-legally-declare-it-as-a-sovereign-nation?share=1 https://www.quora.com/If-someone-were-to-build-an-artificial... And there's only a handful of companies large enough to do this: http://www.businessinsider.com/25-corporations-bigger-tan-countries-2011-6?op=1 http://www.businessinsider.com/25-corporations-bigger-tan-co...

TazeTSchnitzel 11y ago

Some have suggested Apple use its massive cash reserves to bail out Greece.

walrus01 11y ago

ha, ha: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blueseed https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blueseed

Matt3o12_ 11y ago

Couldn't the government just ban sales from that country (i.e. Apple). They have done that for Cuba, so why not for a company , country I mean, that "supports terrorism".

snowwrestler 11y ago

There's probably no advantage; to do business in the U.S., a company must comport with U.S. laws. If Apple moved their HQ to the Sovereign Island of SteveJobistan, they would still have to follow U.S. court orders if they wanted to sell products to Americans within the borders of the U.S.

X0Refraction 11y ago
But would the U.S. populace put up with not being able to buy Apple devices at all? That starts sounding like restriction on free trade to the average American which is something they are much more likely to stand against as the government couldn't leverage fear to make the populace go against their own interests.
- antihero 11y ago
  Stopping the sale of Apple devices and temporarily disabling US iPhones would probably be the singular most socially impacting event in recent history. If you want people to revolt, take their favourite toy away and blame the government.
- snowwrestler 11y ago
  Would Apple's shareholders put up with Apple not being able to sell into the U.S. market? We're getting into "kill the company to make a point" territory, which is probably not realistic however we might imagine they do it. Whatever leverage Apple has over the federal government will come from the millions of citizens who are customers, shareholders, developers, fans, employees, etc. They can activate those people just as well from Cupertino as they can from their own island.

deleted 11y ago

[deleted]