The guys are from the Seasteading Institute team. Patri is essentially resigning from operations and getting ready to focus on related commercial ventures (start-ups). You can get the full story in the latest newsletter: http://seasteading.org/blogs/main/2011/07/31/the-seasteading...
There are several companies that allow people to live on cruise ships for >3 months (like the "Semester at Sea" offerings). And, there is at least one cruise ship that sells cabins as condos and is essentially a permanent residence.
Keep in mind that you can spend a good amount of time on US soil and still avoid paying income tax or needing a resident/work Visa. I expect the ship will speed a good amount of time at port in California if they're able to get funding and execute.
I think this is a great alternative to say opening an office in London or Dublin to deal with immigration problems for EU people. Leasing and operating such a cruise ship probably (I'm just guessing here) wouldn't cost much more than leasing and operating an office in London. This has the added benefits that country of origin doesn't matter (it's not just EU), that the people would be in the same time zone, and that it is so close by that travel to SFBA would be relatively inexpensive (compared to travel from London).
There are several companies that allow people to live on cruise ships for >3 months (like the "Semester at Sea" offerings). And, there is at least one cruise ship that sells cabins as condos and is essentially a permanent residence.
Keep in mind that you can spend a good amount of time on US soil and still avoid paying income tax or needing a resident/work Visa. I expect the ship will speed a good amount of time at port in California if they're able to get funding and execute.
I think this is a great alternative to say opening an office in London or Dublin to deal with immigration problems for EU people. Leasing and operating such a cruise ship probably (I'm just guessing here) wouldn't cost much more than leasing and operating an office in London. This has the added benefits that country of origin doesn't matter (it's not just EU), that the people would be in the same time zone, and that it is so close by that travel to SFBA would be relatively inexpensive (compared to travel from London).