Would this be stepping on toes?

[robkelk]

I was thinking [size=smaller](never a good sign, I know)[/size] ... Now that StellviaCorp has declared independence from all Earth nations, they're going to need some official representation 'Daneside. But the Convention as a whole has the embassies and consulates.

So... copy a page from Taipei, and set up a "Stellvia Corporation http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taipei_Eco ... ive_Office]Economic and Cultural Representative Office" system, perhaps.

Would anyone in the Convention get upset about what amounts to single-faction embassies? Would Taipei and Beijing get upset that somebody else is using their workaround? (Not that the Convention and Beijing get along already, but there's no point in making an enemy even angrier with you - especially when he's bigger than you are.)

In-universe, Noah would sound out a few folks he really trusts - Yayoi, A.C., Mal, Serenity I, Jeph, maybe Katz - before even mentioning the possibility of this on SMOF-ML. (Unless, of course, somebody esle had already done something similar.) Out-of-universe, all I can do is ask here for opinions...
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012

[Proginoskes]

The only other kind of workaround I can think of, and I'm guessing wildly here with no clue as to how the legal framework would work, would be to have an office or "subconsulate" within Convention consulates dedicated to representing Stellvia. StellviaCorp is subordinate to the Convention, so it makes a kind of sense that their 'Danelaw representatives would be subordinate to Convention consulates.

[M Fnord]

StellivaCorp, having officially shed the bounds of flag-of-convenience and declared itself an extraterritorial megacorp in true Cyberpunk 2020 fashion, doesn't need "embassies."

It needs "subsidiary branches."

Ride that strange torpedo all the way out to the end, my friend.
Mr. Fnord interdimensional man of mystery

FenWiki - Your One-Stop Shop for Fenspace Information

"I. Drink. Your. NERDRAGE!"

[HRogge]

I see a lot of headaches coming on Earth when diplomats explain other people that they might set a precedent to allow dozens or more Fenspace embassies... because if StellviaCorp wants one, other Fen factions might decide to get one too. From the Fenside... if every large faction get their own embassy, the large amount of small factions will not even have the chance to get a working representation, which is a scary thought in my opinion.

Going the corporate route as M.Fnord suggested might work better... and it might prevent the Convention to go from "Fenspace representation" to "funny but useless United Nations copy".

And it might keep the powerful Earth nations busy preventing their own corporations doing the same.

[LynnInDenver]

"Subsidiary office" would be the preferred, just from the "presenting one face" advantage for diplomacy. Plus, as much as some would eat plenty of popcorn as they watched, the idea that hundreds of Earth companies would suddenly relocate their headquarters into space, and then set themselves up as little nations complete with embassies to gain that little bit of extra room that they could get as governments instead of mere companies, would be a frightening one to ultimately behold.

Certainly, this is the way Jeph would sell it to Noah.

Plus, there's a certain advantage to knowing that, if you want to deal with StellviaCorp anywhere on Earth, you just pop by the Fenspace Embassy wherever you happen to be, and talk to the combination representative and sales person, has a certain amount of logistical logic to it.
--

"You know how parents tell you everything's going to fine, but you know they're lying to make you feel better? Everything's going to be fine." - The Doctor

[Dartz]

Corporate nation-states? Very Snow Crash...

That is literally the only thought I'm capable of forming. Personally, I'd consider it a positive one. Though, I'm sure there're a few nations who'd be happy to pull in taxes from corporate subsidiarys... or find a way how to manage to do that.
________________________________
--m(^0^)m-- Wot, no sig?

[robkelk]

Okay, it looks like for the purposes of foreign relations, Stellvia Corporation will be going the same route as the Sovereign Military Order of Malta - at least until they can buy some 'Daneside company-embassies of their own. (Instead of "Economic and Cultural Representative Offices", we'll have "Sales, Tourism, and Hiring Offices".)

The SMOM precedent answers some of the other questions raised in this thread so far - if 'Daneside multinational corporations could do this, at least one would have by now.
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012