The point about the KOS list is more or less irrelevant given that the CP one hasn't been updated in god knows how long. I am not aware of any other town on the island that is consistently assaulted by the likes of the Bills, the Criminal Sorority, the Brotherhood of the Coast (at least they're a decent bunch in terms people attacking you) and mass wailing by the Necromancers, and yet still manages to keep going.
I'm not going to get in the whole 'York vs Derby' debate, but I will stand against claims that York is some sort of anarchist state.
Perhaps it's because death is only an inconvenience in this game? If it was anything like playing Diablo II in hardcore, York would be a burned-down Tristram.
^
This. LFK seems to be able to maintain the status quo though.. One man armee?
Hardly. He's basically the Freedom of the Shipwreck. What status quo do we have in the shipwreck anyway?