Wired - May 1996 page 40

Offshore Data Haven

A little more than a year ago, Vincent Cate left his studies at Carnegie Mellon University - where he was just a thesis short of a PhD in computer science - and moved to the Caribbean island of Anguilla.

With his technical background and libertarian-objectivist leanings, Cate didn't take long to come up with an attractive business plan: run Internet-based corporations and provide offshore accounts for US$50 a month to people who want to sell products and services over the Internet, while taking advantage of Anguilla's tax-haven status. "A company that is doing business over the Internet can be based anywhere, so why not somewhere without taxes?" he asks rhetorically.

So far, Cate's company, Offshore Information Services Ltd., only claims a few customers, but he reports that he's now seeing mounting interest from Americans concerned with the effects of the Communications Decency Act. "Thanks to Anguilla's strict secrecy laws, we can offer 100 percent privacy-protected access," he boasts. For more information, see online.offshore.com.ai/.

Steve G. Steinberg