Barros Act

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tomoxia_howensis

The Barros Act is an international charter signifying the exclusive rights of Royal Society activities on the Wumpa Archipelago, and the associated freedoms and restrictions imposed on nations who wish to participate in research on the islands. The act forbids the colonization and exploitation of the islands, while also outlying policies and rules for all operations on the archipelago. Importantly, the charter recognizes the Royal Society's Wumpian Initiative as the sole authoritative figure on the islands, and forbids any nation from obtaining or coveting power gems.

Critics have viewed the act as unethical, with too much control exerted in favor of the Royal Society.

The act is currently overseen by the Wumpian Initiative under the presidency of Howard Oren.

Prior Events
Prior to the signing of the Barros Act in 1997, most research operations were overseen by the Royal Society in a semi anarchic form of 'research nomadism' that had little central structure. This lack of structure led to unforeseen chaos, where disparate groups struggled to achieve mutual objectives as explicit communication was scarce between the groups. There were no written regulations, not even concerning resources and power gems, which led to certain nations coveting gems secretly.

Fort Brabham was constructed early on as a collective camp for all research agents present on the island, and was divided into wings dependent on country. There were no former rules concerning how groups could operate themselves on the island, and many organizations recklessly encroached into Wumpian territories without proper arms. In 1996, a skirmish between Royal Society and Wumpian forces transpired on N.Sanity Beach, where the latter were decimated as they fought with spears against artillery. A Royal Society officer was taken captive after the battle, and poisoned by Wumpian savages. The event rallied the Royal Society to form a temporary 'agreement' with the Wumpians, in order to avoid further bloodshed.

At Fort Brabham, various groups banded together to agree on certain rules so that a similar event could be avoided. The groups agreed to ban unregulated movement among their members, and to report all operations to a central command which was to be governed by the Royal Society. An act was later called into motion when various governments advised the formation of a regulatory document in light of these events, and personal recommendations were made to the Royal Society by the British Prime Minister.

Signing
The act was signed in 1997 in London, England, under the discretion of the English government. Constituencies who signed the act also agreed to sign the adjoining ancillary document, the Barros Discretion, which designed a training program that helped accommodate various governments into beginning efforts on the islands and vetted them for sincerity of objectives. The agreement also contained an annual vetting program, where the Wumpian Initiative would review a nation's efforts on the island and audit their operations.

Detractors rightly claimed that the act afforded too much control to the British Government, and was in a way reinventing the British Empire. The writing in the act was pointed out as giving the Wumpian Initiative the ability to define the meaning of words and regulations in the way that they could willfully exile any nation based on mere discretion. Detractors theorized that this would give the Wumpian Initiative in effect totalitarian control over other researching organizations, where little progress would be able to be done except through their channels. These claims were defended by the Royal Society, as well as other participating nations and governments.

The Royal Society defended themselves, by claiming that without central control, all efforts on the island would dry up under the chaos of differing objectives. Only through communication could the goals be directly communicated between the parties, and then organized in a way that would allow them to each achieve each objective individually without contest or contradiction. The society pointed out that while the act gave the Initiative the discretion to exile constituents on choice, various prerequisites prevented the unconstitutional use of this power. The group then pointed out that the lack of a similar clear and direct goal led to the adverse effects of the Tasmanian Drought, and only when the Royal Society banded groups together at the Southern Observatory Base was there clear progress.

Certain nations refused to sign the act, and to this day are forbidden to access the islands. As of yet, none of these governments have been able to access the islands secretly.

Aftermath
The Barros Act allowed operations on the islands to accelerate smoothly, and has been seen as a general success. There have been some calls to revise the act, which as of yet have been ignored.

Contents

 * 1) The charter recognizes the Royal Society of London as the official nonpartisan overseer of all operations on the archipelago, and the channel through which all international cooperation on the isles be organized through the newly created entity of the Royal Wumpian Initiative.
 * 2) The charter recognizes Fort Brabham as the effective capital of all archipelago activities, and its head as the official representative of all island research.
 * 3) The charter recognizes the Wumpian islands as a distinct landmass, and that no nation, corporation, or organized entity, has any claim to rightful inheritance or colonization of the Wumpa Archipelago.
 * 4) The charter recognizes the breadth of Wumpian land reaching a sphere of 25 miles around all associated archipelago coasts, the neutrality and closure of these waters, and the closing of all associated trade and naval routes.
 * 5) The charter recognizes that fauna and flora endemic to the islands maintain a special right, and that no such organisms be removed without council approval.
 * 6) The charter recognizes that all hunting and gathering activities on the island are forbidden, unless flora is explicitly deemed appropriate to farm and consume by the initiative council.
 * 7) The charter recognizes that biological, geographical, anthropological, and related studies, must only be conducted on official premises located on the archipelago.
 * 8) The charter recognizes that all operations for the exploitation of natural resources are banned on the archipelago.
 * 9) The charter recognizes that all participating entities are banned from owning, obtaining, or exploiting the island's power gems, and that no entity for any reason may be allowed to remove gems from the island's borders.
 * 10) The charter recognizes the borders of the Wumpian tribes and forbids the trespassing of these borders without approval.
 * 11) The charter recognizes that all participating nations must pay annual dues equal to 0.07% of their national GDP, in order to legally participate in research at Royal Society bases.
 * 12) The charter recognizes that all corporate or political entities desiring participation must pay annual dues equal to 20% of their annual profits.
 * 13) The charter recognizes the payment of twice the annual amount in order to participate in independent activities.
 * 14) The charter recognizes the Wumpian Initative's right to accept or deny applicant scientists, politicians, visitors for any reasons deemed appropriate to them.
 * 15) The charter recognizes the royal society's right to lawfully remove and detain individuals, regardless of nationality, who trespass upon Wumpian water and land without any granted permissions.
 * 16) The charter recognizes the authority of royal society members to bear arms for the purpose of defense and enforcement of these agreements.
 * 17) The charter recognizes the authority of the royal society to control traffic in and out of the islands, and to prohibit members from entering Cortex Island.
 * 18) The charter recognizes the Royal Society's right to enact consequences deemed appropriate by initiative councilors upon the violation of any of these acts.
 * 19) The charter recognizes the right for participating nations to oversee a review of this agreement upon the 15th of January of each decade.
 * 20) The charter recognizes that all agreeing nations accept the Royal Society's right to enact these agreements upon any entity, including those not included within the signature base of this charter.

Signees
170 nations have to date signed the charter, including all major nations. Currently 59 nations pay annual dues in order to exercise their right to perform research on the islands.