[History 101; 1999-2001] Seeds of the Sixth World

Hoi chummers, and welcome to our History 101 series. Today we'll be covering the years 1999-2001. Two portions are quotes from from relevant wikis concerning these matters. They go into more detail that is important, and I don't have my copy of Corporate Shadowfiles on me to steal the case names from... Sorry chummers.

##1999; the Seretech Decision

In late 1998 the world was coming to the realization that the wealth, security, and continuous growth of the last half century was unsustainable. This, of course, caused a lot of people to become quite angry and scared.

Several special interest groups were pressuring the government to provide them special concessions to ensure their future profitability and growth. As these myriad and many organizations kept struggling for their slice of an ever shrinking pie, civil disobedience became rampant, especially among the newly resurgent trade unions. Most notable of these unions was the New York Teamsters Union (NYTU).

In late 1998 the NYTU orchestrated a full on strike. The idea was to stop all food shipments in order to get the government to accede to the NYTU's demands. After a few months of food shortages in New York, the NYTU finally realized that the government simply didn't have the money to end the strike. So, in the early part of 1999 the leaders of both groups (NYTU and the government) came together and made an agreement.

Once which the nearly 15 million unionized truckers promptly ignored. Their bellies still full of hellfire and brimstone, and their heads filled with union propaganda they still kept the strike going. New York City was starving. Rioting and looting became the most popular topic on the news channels. People were starving, and they were mad!

Then, on February 21,1999 a Seretech Corporation refrigerated truck was attacked by a mob. Seretech Transport, a subsidiary of the Seretech Corporation, was known for supplying (and shipping) most of the city's fresh fruits and vegetables. Upon seeing a truck (presumably laden with food), a riot soon broke out.

Unfortunately for the rioters (and us down the line), this was not a Seretech Transport truck. Instead it was a Seretech Medical Research truck containing hazardous biomedical waste. Seretech, of course, had armed guards on hand to protect this important shipment, but they were not prepared for the onslaught that faced them.

The order was given to protect the shipment at all costs. If the biomedical waste were to get out it would be catastrophic to both the Corporation's stock prices, but also the health and well being of the city. Seretech's guards opened fire, and with the help of several escort vehicles were able to make it to a Seretech Research facility in Linden, New Jersey.

There the rioters laid siege to the research facility. Convinced that Seretech was withholding food from them, the rioters kept coming... and coming. All throughout the night the siege wore on, and by the time the police came to disband the mob the casualties had piled up. 20 Seretech employees had lost their lives protecting the shipment or during the seige. 200 New Yorkers lost their lives trying to fight for food that wasn't even there.

Someone had to take the heat for this, and the US Justice Dept. decided that it should be Seretech. Charges were brought against Seretech for criminal negligence. The current President of the United States, President Lynch, saw this an opportunity to curtail the power of privatized military companies, and his administration helped push the case aggressively.

The administration, willing to have Seretech condemned, brought the case to the Supreme Court before the end of 1999. Finally, in a 193-pages decision, methodically exploring the legal nature of corporations since Dartmouth College v. Woodward, and the responsibilities arising from their commercial activities, the Supreme Court under Chief Justice Terence Ordell found in favor of Seretech.

It also went further than that. Corporations' constitutional rights, as a moral/legal entity, had been recognized by Santa Clara County v. Southern Pacific Railroad (1886), it ruled that corporate security forces were to be considered as "well regulated militia," as stated by the Second Amendment of the United State Constitution. Along with upholding the right to maintain and use an armed security force to protect its own personnel and property, the opinion also commended the corporation for its public duty in protecting innocent citizens from contamination and ensuring safe disposal of the waste. This line of reasoning severely limited the administration's possibilities in opposing corporate security forces.

##2000; The First Shiawase Decision

On July 10th of 2000, the Supreme Court handed down a decision in the case Nuclear Regulatory Commission v. Shiawase Corporation, to allow the Shiawase Corporation to build and operate a small nuclear power station. Shiawase needed a way to power a newly opened (in 1997) aluminum production factory, seeing as how the power demands of the factory were effecting the local population. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) had fought long and hard to prevent this nuclear reactor from being built, but after two long years of legal battles they eventually lost.

By November 8, 2000 the Shiawase Nuclear Power Plant was opened. Most of the plant had already been built in Singapore and was just waiting for the decision to come down in Shiawase's favor. And it opened to much fanfare and media attention. The news had been following the case for months and publicized it widely.

This brought the Shiawase plant to the attention of TerraFirst! (TF!). In late 2000 (couldn't find a date for the life of me...) TF! attempted to breach the reactor and let loose a torrent of contamination into the local area. They were well equipped with military grade weapons and explosives, and seemed to be highly trained and motivated. However, they never reached the reactor. Instead they were gunned down (every last fraggin one) in the containment zone outside of the reactor by Shiawase Security personnel.

TerraFirst! later claimed to have evidence that Shiawase and other corporations had conspired together to stage the attack. The evidence, however, was lost when the organizations office in California was bombed. Some people believe this to be the first shadowrun.

##2001; The Second Shiawase Decision

Of course, the NRC was not happy about this. Their worst fears were given form. So, they did the same thing the US Justice Dept. tried to do to Seretech... sue Shiawase for criminal negligence.

The NRC claimed that Shiawase was negligent in the protection of their power plant. Shiawase replied with claims that their security forces could have handled an incursion three times the size of the one the fended off. Shiawase also contended that the NRC's harsh regulations and insistence to adherence to the exact letter of law helped weaken security precautions for both the reactor and the aluminum factory. There were literally dozens of citations in the Shiawase case that laid out a solid case that the NRC's interference made the entire attack not only inevitable, but possibly successful. It was only through the dedication and sacrifice of Shiawase personnel that TerraFirst was fended off.

Following the recent decisions United States v. Seretech (1999) and Nuclear Regulatory Commission v. Shiawase (2000), Shiawase reminded it had security obligations when exploiting a nuclear power plant. If the government was enacting laws and regulations who prevented the adequate level of security for a nuclear plant, then it couldn't allow its exploitation. It was implicitly doing it by not allowing a private person to built a nuclear reactor. Calling upon both Lochner v. New York (1905) and West Coast Hotel Co. v. Parrish (1937), the corporation's lawyers were reminding the Supreme Court permitted the government to restrict the liberty of contract guaranteed by the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments only for specific reasons, to protect security, health, morals and the welfare of the people. When a regulation or a law resulted in actually threatening security, health, morals or the welfare of the people, the government should no longer retain such permission. Shiawase gave the court and the government a choice: shut down all the nuclear power plants in the US, or give their owners complete freedom to fulfill the security requirements. Their argument used for the first time the concept of corporate extraterritoriality to ask for a differentiated enforcement of the law inside corporation facilities.

After several weeks of deliberation, the Supreme Court gave its verdict, in favor of Shiawase. Foreseeing the consequences of their decision, the judges attempted to limit its reach. They detailed the activities for which jurisprudence allowed to affirm they could affect without doubt security, health, morals and welfare. In addition to nuclear power plants, they extended the reasoning to chemicals, waste processing, armaments and services related to national security, water and food supplies, and hospitals. In these activities, the corporations and their providers and subcontractors were having from then on a complete freedom of contract. The government could no longer regulate beyond customers contracts. Salaries, working hours, security procedures and measures, and use of equipment or process were now free of any sort of regulations as long as it did not affect the product or the service sold. The judges also restricted this freedom of contract to the working place, thus preventing employers to infringe on employees rights outside: corporate property was sovereign and not subject to the jurisdiction of the surrounding nation-state.. They were establishing the extraterritoriality principle Shiawase lawyers had exposed.

In effect, corporations could now be "countries".

Next [History 101] please!