I think the review plays down one thing - time. Sealand may (I'm not a lawyer, and certainly not an expert in the laws of statehood) become a state if:
* It stays independent.
* It obtains a sustainable population.
* Commercial independence. Not just as a "data haven", but hydroponic food production, and stuff being built there (possibly just IP, but more than just what you get from legal arbitrage).
* A functional community, with a rule of law.
Not too likely. The platform is simply to small to support any of this.
It would be way easier to find a "real" country and convince them of the merits of doing a favorable free trade zone, than to try to rehabilitate Sealand.
(our plan was actually to use Sealand to get press, and then develop both technical means like anonymous ecash, and political means (going to various neutralish countries to try to sell them on the idea), which is why we did such a big PR campaign)
The trouble is that you need to get enough customers quickly enough that they have more power than the governments opposing you!
eg. Switzerland, Lichtenstein, Monaco, the Channel Islands, most of the caribbean etc. The US could probably manage to shut any of them down if their 'customers' didn't have so much political clout in Washington
The difficulty is going to be getting enough customers who donate more to US politics than the MPAA/RIAA
* It stays independent.
* It obtains a sustainable population.
* Commercial independence. Not just as a "data haven", but hydroponic food production, and stuff being built there (possibly just IP, but more than just what you get from legal arbitrage).
* A functional community, with a rule of law.
Not too likely. The platform is simply to small to support any of this.