Offshoring to a Ship in International Waters

JasdonLe writes "Sourcing Mag posted an article about Roger Green and David Cook, who hope to avoid US visa regulations that usually accompany outsourcing, with their company SeaCode, and a used cruise ship, sitting in international waters three miles off the coast of Los Angeles.""

A Mariner's First Impression:

[DrunkenTerror]

Not too bright.

So...

[Lord_Dweomer]

So this means the Coast Guard won't save their ass? Finally...about time we scurvy seadogs showed the RIAA and MPAA what REAL pirates are! YAAAR!

Where do we sign up?

[jarich]

If they'll cruise it through the Bahamas, I know lots of people who'd sign up! ;)

How would this affect taxes?

Hmm

[MrDoh!]

Not sure this plan will hold water. I hope they've weighed all the options.

Why can't I get this image out of my head....

[slashdot_commentator]

...of a horde of unshowered, dropcloth wearing Indians chained to a deck with oars next to their keyboards...

(first post?)

Is it just me or is that site slow?

[Anonymous Coward]

Arg! Torpedo to the server room!

A Slashdot First

[dcigary]

Now, with our awesome Slashdot power, we have now set fire to the servers on the ship, and it is in the process of sinking.

Good job, everyone! Now, World Domnination is within our grasp!

Morons.

[Frennzy]

L. Ron Hubbard ALREADY owns the patent to this! Just ask his friendly help desk people at the scientoloaserfgad
asdfasdfasdfa
ASDFAESRFA

NO CARRIER

Piracy

[OPPressed]

I'm gonna get a speedboat and pirate there software!

Re:Why can't I get this image out of my head....

[neonfreon]

I see a new Bollywood hit coming...

More typos?

[Solder Fumes]

I'd hate to be a coder on the ship during a good storm. We'll probably start seeing variable names like upanddown, backandforth, sidetoside, puke, makeitstop, and soseasick.

Re:Hmm

[Anonymous Coward]

Not sure this plan will hold water. I hope they've weighed all the options.

Bouy, were those terrible or what?

Oh shit awesome

[mcc]

I totally want to set up a web server there and illegally distribute Windows ISOs from there, just so I can be charged with Piracy on the High Seas

Re:Is it April Fools Day?

[TheKeyMaker]

Sounds more like HMS Click Monkey
http://www.clickmonkeys.com/aboutus.shtml [clickmonkeys.com]

Sure, sure,

[Hawthorne01]

it's all fun and games until Hiro Protaganist shows up and carves a hole in the hull with his chain gun on steroids.

Re:Why can't I get this image out of my head....

[slashdot_commentator]

Developers! *thunk* Developers! *thunk* Developers! BGates: RAM speed, Mr. Ballmer. *thunkthunkthunkthunk* DEVELOPERS!DEVELOPERS!DEVELOPERS!

Corporate Motto

[kb9vcr]

1. To code in the sea.
2. To live in sea.
3. To live by the code of sea.

Rrrrr, it be a pirates life for thee

How about a pot farm supertanker

[hedley]

Imagine a passed over supertanker refitted with lots of small decks (a la being John Malkovitch). Fitted with UV lighting and irrigation many plants could be harvested in international waters. Customers would
arrive via boat.

Eventually some pissed govt sticks a torpedo in it.

Re:How about a pot farm supertanker

[YrWrstNtmr]

Customers would arrive via boat.

And get busted as they attempt to return to shore.

The FSF Crimson Permanent Assurance!

[MichaelPenne]

But this just seems to be asking for a lot of trouble.

You raise a good point (-ed fanblad), what happens if the 600 software engineers make the pointy haired bosses walk the plank and sail off for Tahiti?

Call her the FSF Crimson Permanent Assurance, and you'd have a great movie and some killr appz!

Don't be silly!

[switcha]

Does anyone have the authority to make sure that it's not (child) slave labor?

Oh, come on. No one would hire child slave labor! Everyone knows child slaves are horrible at commenting their code.

Re:Is it April Fools Day? - must be

[AKAImBatman]

Actually, each country is different. The US claims 3 miles, some nations claim up to 12. 7s and google told me that.

Tell that to the US Third Fleet as a full carrier group pulls along side and warns you to prepare to be boarded. With about 200 planes, 180+ missiles, and 5" deck guns pointed your way, you're lible to listen.

Of course, that's only if we want to make them shit their pants. Otherwise the First Fleet (i.e. The Coast Guard) has more than enough power to raid and shutdown this operation. If I were them, I would hedge my political connections *very* carefully.

Re:Sure, sure,

[chochos]

I'm sure they'll listen to Reason...

Re:Is it April Fools Day?

[Seumas]

What is your problem?!

Look, if you can't compete with third-world technical labor, that's YOUR problem. Nobody owes you a thing in this country. No company should be held accountable to such selfish entitlements as a living or even competative wage, health insurance, vacation and sick time, lunch breaks, safety regulations and so on.

Really, if someone is willing to do the job for a quarter of the price and doesn't care if they live twelve deep in a studio apartment, work in a tech farm with the fire doors chained shut all day and without any regard to societies business regulations (contributing to social security, disability insurance, unemployment insurance, medicair, an IRA or a 401K then you have a personal problem.

Get off your high horse and stop expecting handouts, you lazy, selfish, entitlement whore! Take your $5.15 and like it! Or go back and get a new education in something else! Yes, I know you just graduated awhile ago and are still in serious debt and had hoped to settle down with your girl and start a family, but go back to school and... oh wait, that's right... almost everythign can be farmed out now... Okay - well - forget school. Go watch a Wal-Mart checker or a cashier at McDonald's and learn how to operate the registers and headsets! -- Oh, wait... that's right... drive-through ordering is outsourced now, too... Um... Well, go find some soda cans to redeem for deposit!

Re:Is it April Fools Day?

[misleb]

It is just like the Love Boat... 'cept without the love. I mean, 600 software enigneers? ANyone care to guess how many of them would be women? I hope they at least understand the English phrase: "don't drop the soap?"

-matthew

Re:Why can't I get this image out of my head....

[stev_mccrev]

Source code leaks from the ship...

if (anyone_reads(this)) {
please->send(help);
we.are_prisoners_here = true;
}

I hereby christen their second ship

[katana]

Sea++.

Thank you. I'm here all week.

Re:Should we wait...

[Anonymous Coward]

the US claims territorial waters twelve nautical miles off the coast?

Your information is a little out-of-date. These days, the Americans claim their territorial waters extend to 12000 miles off the coast.

New excuse for delayed releases:

[Clark_Griswold]

Scurvy.

Shouldn't This Be Just-Offshoring?

[dohboy]

Furthermore, doesn't this venture sound like a geek-cruise
http://www.geekcruises.com/ [geekcruises.com] gone bad?

This would make an interesting reality TV show where once a week
a coder is voted off and has to walk a gang-plank to sleep with the phishes.
"You ARE weakest geek...Goodbye."

Think Gillivan's Island meets The Aprentice meets MTV's The Real World
and call it: The Virtual World

Re:Is it April Fools Day?

[ShieldW0lf]

Sounds like a business opportunity to me. Set up SeaWhores and park it close by.

Worst. Job. Ever.

[Electroly]

Stuck on a ship at sea with 599 other programmers? Kill me now.

Like

[Renraku]

Here's what I'd like to see.

Week 1: Operations launch. Works getting done. Going well.

Week 2: Work is better.

Week 3: Pirates came in and confiscated all our computers and electronic equipment. Called the coast guard. I think I heard them laughing in the background.

Week 4: We've drifted into China due to a complete lag of navigation or ship control systems. I, for one, welcome our new communist overlords.

Re:Is it April Fools Day?

[Feztaa]

The problem is "Quis custodiet ipso custodes".

I understand perfectly. The problem is, that we didn't pay enough attention in Latin class.

ROFL

[TheLink]

SeaWhores.

*clap* *clap* *clap*

Just the potential wordplays might be worth it...

Re:Oh shit awesome

[LuxFX]

Why not do actual piracy on the high seas? There's more liquor and women that way.

Plus if you're caught being an actual pirate, the sentence is much lighter than if you were caught swapping copyrighted material.

C coders wanted?

[Anonymous Coward]

...Programmers Wanted

Good Rates

Free Food

Free Accomodation

Must have C experience ;)

Re:ROFL

[blowdart]

Just the potential wordplays might be worth it...

Well it would have been a nice idea, until you brought clap into it....

Re:Better get a nuclear powered ship

[Anonymous Coward]

The ship will be 3.1 miles off the coast of LOS FUCKING ANGELES. They don't have hurricanes there.

Re:How about a pot farm supertanker

[Ann Elk]

Would that be a supertoker?

In other news...

[Anonymous Coward]

The RIAA was reported to be in negotiations to purchase a "kilo" class submarine from the former Soviet Union.

A spokesman for the RIAA said that while they could afford it, a nuclear sub was not necessary. "We will only be going out three miles or so, so a diesel sub will do just fine".

Re:Is it April Fools Day?

[afd8856]

Check your spellchecker. I thing is wrongly accepting nuclear as the correct form of "nucular".

Re:Is it April Fools Day?

[joebok]

How about security and piracy.

No kidding - this is really going to confuse the issue! What if some of those engineers download some pre-released movies and then Blackbeard hijacks their ship? Would he get an extra 3 years tacked on to his sentence?

They've got it all wrong!

[iolaus]

If they'd just cruise the baby around the world for a year or so I'm sure they could get a boat-load (ha) of programmers who'd be happy to work for a very low wage. I'd be tempted to work for low pay for a year in exchange for the opportunity to see the world and travel to exotic locations. Slogan: See the world, meet interesting people, and replace them with small shell scripts!

Seasick!

[Weaselmancer]

Ever try reading a book as a passenger in a car? What happens to you?

Now, imagine a computer screen and a gently rocking boat, and a programmer's work week. You'd need an IV drip bottle of Dramamine to survive this gig.

Pun intended?

[tomzyk]

If I were them I wouldn't be exploiting the lack of labor laws. You can only expect people to be so productive in something as fundamentaly brain draining as CS if you run them into the ground.

Not gonna happen if they're 3 miles offshore!

Bah dum dum TCHSSSSSHHHHHH!!!!

Re:Is it April Fools Day?

[fataugie]

Sounds like the coffee they serve around here.

Re:The FSF Crimson Permanent Assurance!

[hokeyru]

Yes! Brings new meaning to the words 'Software Pirates'!