Shiawase Decision
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Shiawase Corporation v. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (2001), also known as the Shiawase Decision, was a landmark 2001 Supreme Court of the United States case that established corporation extraterritoriality. The decision made Shiawase Corporation the first megacorporation.
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[edit] Facts of the Case
[edit] Nuclear Regulatory Commission v. Shiawase Corporation (2000)
In 1998, Shiawase Corporation asked the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) permission to build its own nuclear power plant for its own use. Shiawase was not intending to use the plant as a public utility, but to eliminate its dependance on the government-run regional power grid, since their metallurgical engineering division was running exorbitant energy costs. The NRC refused. Shiawase challenged the decision of the administrative agency on the basis of restraint of trade, arguing that the government was injuring Shiawase by charging high energy rates and not allowing it to obtain energy from cheaper sources. The case was appealed to the Supreme Court. In the summer of 2000, the Supreme Court decided that Shiawase could build the reactor. The Supreme Court also held that it was unreasonable for the NRC to require Shiawase to use local police to protect the plant, in light of the Seretech Decision.
[edit] The TerraFirst! attack
Shiawase completed construction of its power plant in late 2000. The Supreme Court decision garnered the power plant much attention, making it an attractive target for eco-terrorists. The terrorist group TerraFirst! planned to crack open the reactor, allowing nuclear material to contaminate the area. The special forces team assigned to the task used military-grade weapons and had enough explosives to carry out their plans. They were able to breach the outer parameter. Shiawase security forces stopped the terrorists before they reached the containment building, killing every one of the attacking group. TerraFirst! later gathered evidence that Shiawase had conspired with other corporation to stage the attack, but the evidence was destroyed when the terrorist group's California office was bombed.
[edit] The Decision
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission prosecuted Shiawase Corporation for criminal negligence and reckless endangerment. The NRC's case was that Shiawase maintained inadequate security measures, allowing the terrorists to penetrate the outer perimeter of the plant. Shiawase offered in its defense evidence that they could have defended against a group three times the size of the TerraFirst! team. It also contended that it was NRC regulations that prevented Shiawase from implementing more effective security measures in the first place. Because the laws of the United States and the corporation's right to security, granted by the Seretech case, could not be reconciled, Shiawase argued that the only solution was to free Shiawase from those laws on its private property. After only a few weeks of deliberation, the Supreme Court held that Shiawase and all other major corporations had extraterritoriality status, and therefore corporate property was soverign and not subject to the jurisdiction of the surrounding nation-state.
[edit] References
- Corporate Shadowfiles, pp. 18-20
- The Neo-Anarchist's Guide to North America, pp. 78-79
- Shadowrun, Third Edition, p. 22
