{ "model": { "rank": 6461, "code": "thing-q25855", "model_id": "vr.tr.international-waters", "name": "international waters", "purpose": "Enable an AI agent to identify a marine area's intended meaning as international waters, assess its conditions and applicable jurisdiction, and determine whether a proposed activity can proceed.", "family": "Thing Registry", "category": "Physical world and living systems", "status": "research-draft", "kind": "thing", "plane": "PHY", "domain": "PHY.PLC", "industry": "", "version": "", "url": "/models/thing/q25855/", "tier": 2, "score": 60, "payload": { "layer": "wikidata", "aliases": [], "aliasCount": 0, "merged": 0, "knownIn": 60, "facets": null, "markers": [], "lexicalClass": "", "senseRank": null, "alsoRegisteredAs": null, "source": { "dataset": "wikidata", "item": "Q25855", "url": "https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q25855", "license": "CC0 1.0" } }, "research": { "vercy": "1.0-draft", "publication": { "status": "research-draft", "adjudicationStatus": "unreviewed", "publishableCanonical": false, "generatedAt": "2026-09-07T14:41:15Z", "providers": [ "Codex", "Grok" ], "missingProviders": [], "pass": 2, "cost": { "grok": { "usd": 0.00731476, "turns": 1, "seconds": 72.4, "error": null }, "codex": { "seconds": 84.7, "error": "Reading additional input from stdin...\nOpenAI Codex v0.153.3\n--------\nworkdir: R:\\02_PROJECTS\\02_Meta_Models_Platforms\\Ver.cy\\current\\thing-registry-backlog\nmodel: gpt-6-astra\nprovider: openai\napproval: never\nsandbox: read-only\nreasoning effort: none\nreasoning summaries: none\nsession id: 01a07c4f-aa7a-7563-b004-e2e6540e7042\n--------\nuser\nYou are drafting a Vercy meta-model for one registered thing. Answer as JSON only, no prose around it.\n\nThing: international waters\nRegistry id: vr.tr.international-waters\nPlane / domain: PHY / PHY.PLC\nRegistry definition: (none recorded)\nNames folded into thi" } } }, "metaModel": { "id": "THING-Q25855", "registryId": "vr.tr.international-waters", "name": "international waters", "version": "0.1.0-research.1", "entryKind": "thing", "family": "Thing Registry", "domain": [ "PHY.PLC" ], "status": "research-draft" }, "canonicalUrl": "https://ver.cy/models/thing/q25855/", "model": { "registry_id": "vr.tr.international-waters", "name": "international waters", "purpose": "Enable an AI agent to identify a marine area's intended meaning as international waters, assess its conditions and applicable jurisdiction, and determine whether a proposed activity can proceed.", "definition": "International waters is the colloquial label for maritime space beyond a coastal State's territorial sea, most strictly the high seas and the Area under UNCLOS, where no State may claim sovereignty and jurisdiction is mainly flag-State, with residual coastal-State rights in the EEZ and on the continental shelf.", "scope_statement": "This model owns the spatial identity, water-column status, operational conditions and activity-specific constraints of areas described as international waters under vr.tr.international-waters; it provisionally uses high seas as its core meaning while preserving broader usage explicitly. UNCLOS distinguishes high seas from exclusive economic zones, territorial seas, internal waters and archipelagic waters. [UNCLOS Article 86](https://www.un.org/depts/los/convention_agreements/texts/unclos/part7.htm)", "in_scope": [ "The intended meaning of international waters in each assertion, including whether it denotes high seas or waters outside territorial seas more broadly", "Geographic extent, vertical coverage, assessment date and uncertainty of the marine area", "Water-column classification and its relationship to adjacent maritime zones and underlying seabed regimes", "Activity-specific freedoms, duties, restrictions and competent authorities", "Marine conditions, conservation measures and emergency arrangements relevant to using the area" ], "out_of_scope": [ "The full models of territorial seas, exclusive economic zones, archipelagic waters and international straits", "Continental-shelf entitlements, seabed mineral deposits and exploitation contracts", "Vessel registration, seaworthiness, ownership and crew certification", "Species biology, fish-stock dynamics and ecosystem models", "Treaty negotiation, national legislation and judicial proceedings as independent things", "Airspace classification and aircraft operation" ], "distinguishing_features": [ "Test the term's intended meaning before classifying the place: a high-seas classification excludes an EEZ, even though navigation freedoms also apply within an EEZ. [UNCLOS Articles 86-87](https://www.un.org/depts/los/convention_agreements/texts/unclos/part7.htm) and [Article 58](https://www.un.org/Depts/los/convention_agreements/texts/unclos/part5.htm)", "Require dated maritime-limit evidence rather than treating distance from the nearest coastline as a sufficient classification test.", "Classify the water column separately from the underlying seabed; do not infer the seabed's regime from the water's label.", "Distinguish absence of territorial sovereignty from absence of jurisdiction: high-seas activities still engage flag-state jurisdiction and specified exceptions. [UNCLOS Articles 89-94 and 110](https://www.un.org/depts/los/convention_agreements/texts/unclos/part7.htm)", "Distinguish a marine area's status from a vessel's passage rights: international navigation through a strait does not itself establish that the strait is high seas." ], "characteristics": [ { "name": "Meaning asserted", "kind": "category", "unit_or_values": "high seas | waters outside territorial seas | other explicitly defined usage | unresolved", "why_it_matters": "Prevents an ambiguous label from silently determining the applicable regime." }, { "name": "Assessed spatial extent", "kind": "measurement", "unit_or_values": "Coordinates or polygon with coordinate reference system, vertical coverage and positional uncertainty in metres", "why_it_matters": "Allows a position or route segment to be tested against the area." }, { "name": "Water-column classification", "kind": "state", "unit_or_values": "high seas | EEZ | territorial sea | internal waters | archipelagic waters | disputed | undetermined, by subarea and date", "why_it_matters": "Makes misclassification and mixed-zone geometries visible." }, { "name": "Boundary proximity", "kind": "measurement", "unit_or_values": "Nautical miles to a specified maritime limit, with uncertainty", "why_it_matters": "Shows whether position error or route drift could change the activity assessment." }, { "name": "Assessment validity", "kind": "state", "unit_or_values": "Assessment timestamp, evidence dates, validity interval where known, and current | stale | superseded | unknown", "why_it_matters": "Prevents outdated boundaries or expired measures from supporting present decisions." }, { "name": "Underlying seabed regime", "kind": "relation", "unit_or_values": "Linked continental-shelf or international seabed Area model, including disputed or unresolved attribution", "why_it_matters": "Separates water-column uses from activities that touch or disturb the seabed." }, { "name": "Activity assessment", "kind": "state", "unit_or_values": "supported | conditional | prohibited | unresolved, for a specified actor, activity, place and time", "why_it_matters": "Avoids treating international waters as blanket permission for every activity." }, { "name": "Applicable authority", "kind": "relation", "unit_or_values": "Named flag state, competent organization or other authority, linked to its activity-specific legal basis", "why_it_matters": "Identifies who can authorize, regulate, receive reports or enforce a measure." }, { "name": "Operational sea conditions", "kind": "measurement", "unit_or_values": "Wave height in metres, current speed in knots, wind speed in knots and visibility in nautical miles, with observation or forecast time", "why_it_matters": "Supports a separate judgment of practical safety." }, { "name": "Applicable marine measures", "kind": "relation", "unit_or_values": "Linked fishing closures, protected-area measures, routing measures and environmental requirements with effective dates", "why_it_matters": "Captures restrictions that a broad zone label cannot express." } ], "affordances": [ "Classify a coordinate, footprint or route segment using dated maritime-limit evidence.", "Compare a proposed transit, fishing operation, survey or cable activity against the rules applicable to its actor and location.", "Identify required authorizations, notifications, reporting channels and unresolved prerequisites.", "Detect entry into another maritime zone or an area subject to a relevant measure.", "Assess whether sea conditions and emergency-support arrangements permit the proposed operation.", "Produce an evidence-linked decision and specify when it must be reassessed." ] }, "sources": [ { "id": "unclos-1982", "title": "United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (1982)", "url": "https://www.un.org/depts/los/convention_agreements/texts/unclos/unclos_e.pdf", "what_it_supports": "Legal definition of high seas, the Area, EEZ, territorial sea, freedoms and flag-State jurisdiction", "url_status": "live" }, { "id": "un-oceans-unclos-overview", "title": "Oceans and the Law of the Sea", "url": "https://www.un.org/en/global-issues/oceans-and-the-law-of-the-sea", "what_it_supports": "UN institutional framing of UNCLOS maritime zones and ABNJ", "url_status": "live" }, { "id": "imo-unclos", "title": "United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea", "url": "https://www.imo.org/en/ourwork/legal/pages/unitednationsconventiononthelawofthesea.aspx", "what_it_supports": "IMO role, flag State, safety and pollution regimes on the high seas", "url_status": "live" }, { "id": "isa-the-area", "title": "The Area", "url": "", "what_it_supports": "Seabed beyond national jurisdiction as common heritage, ISA mandate", "url_status": "dead" } ], "structure": { "bundles": [ { "id": "meaning-and-marine-extent", "name": "Meaning and marine extent", "description": "Establish what the label denotes and which marine space is being assessed.", "rationale": "International waters is an ambiguous label whose interpretation can change the entire decision.", "layers": [ { "id": "term-interpretation", "name": "Term interpretation", "description": "Separate the registry concept from the meaning asserted by a particular source or user.", "findings": [ { "id": "intended-water-category", "name": "Intended water category", "description": "Record whether the assertion concerns high seas or a broader set of waters outside territorial seas.", "questions": [ { "text": "Does international waters mean high seas here, or does the speaker include exclusive economic zones?", "kind": "definition", "id": "intended-water-category-q01" }, { "text": "Which source or explicit user definition establishes that interpretation?", "kind": "provenance", "id": "intended-water-category-q02" } ] } ] }, { "id": "spatiotemporal-footprint", "name": "Spatiotemporal footprint", "description": "Locate the relevant marine area and delimit the assessment in space and time.", "findings": [ { "id": "assessed-water-volume", "name": "Assessed water volume", "description": "Represent the footprint and vertical coverage precisely enough to evaluate an operation.", "questions": [ { "text": "Which coordinates, reference system, depth interval and assessment date identify the waters concerned?", "kind": "measurement", "id": "assessed-water-volume-q01" }, { "text": "Does the footprint cross any maritime limit, requiring separate assessments of its parts?", "kind": "boundary", "id": "assessed-water-volume-q02" } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "maritime-boundaries-and-seabed", "name": "Maritime boundaries and seabed", "description": "Determine water-column status without conflating coastal claims, navigational rights and seabed entitlements.", "rationale": "A single ocean position can engage different regimes vertically and competing interpretations horizontally.", "layers": [ { "id": "water-column-limits", "name": "Water-column limits", "description": "Evaluate the maritime limits needed to classify the area.", "findings": [ { "id": "boundary-evidence-and-contestation", "name": "Boundary evidence and contestation", "description": "Record the basis, date and uncertainty of zone boundaries, preserving conflicting claims.", "questions": [ { "text": "Which official charts, deposited coordinates, agreements or decisions support the relevant maritime limits?", "kind": "provenance", "id": "boundary-evidence-and-contestation-q01" }, { "text": "Could a competing claim, unresolved delimitation or positional uncertainty change the classification at this location?", "kind": "boundary", "id": "boundary-evidence-and-contestation-q02" } ] } ] }, { "id": "vertical-regime-interface", "name": "Vertical regime interface", "description": "Connect the water-column assessment to the separately governed seabed.", "findings": [ { "id": "seabed-contact-consequences", "name": "Seabed contact consequences", "description": "Identify when an operation requires a separate seabed assessment.", "questions": [ { "text": "Which seabed regime or competing entitlement lies beneath the assessed waters?", "kind": "boundary", "id": "seabed-contact-consequences-q01" }, { "text": "Will anchoring, drilling, sampling or cable placement require a linked seabed-rights assessment?", "kind": "action", "id": "seabed-contact-consequences-q02" } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "uses-and-jurisdiction", "name": "Uses and jurisdiction", "description": "Evaluate proposed uses against the actor's legal position and the relevant authority.", "rationale": "The area's label alone cannot establish permission, immunity or enforcement competence.", "layers": [ { "id": "activity-specific-entitlements", "name": "Activity-specific entitlements", "description": "Assess a concrete use instead of assigning unrestricted access to the area.", "findings": [ { "id": "proposed-use-conditions", "name": "Proposed use conditions", "description": "Connect navigation, fishing, research and installation-related uses to their distinct prerequisites.", "questions": [ { "text": "What exact activity, vessel flag, operator nationality and operating period must the assessment cover?", "kind": "definition", "id": "proposed-use-conditions-q01" }, { "text": "Which applicable rules support, condition or prohibit that use, and what must be verified before it starts?", "kind": "action", "id": "proposed-use-conditions-q02" } ] } ] }, { "id": "enforcement-and-intervention", "name": "Enforcement and intervention", "description": "Identify the basis for exercising authority over an operation in these waters.", "findings": [ { "id": "competent-intervening-authority", "name": "Competent intervening authority", "description": "Distinguish ordinary flag-state oversight from any separately justified intervention.", "questions": [ { "text": "Which authority has jurisdiction over this actor and conduct, and which instrument establishes it?", "kind": "provenance", "id": "competent-intervening-authority-q01" }, { "text": "If boarding, seizure or pursuit is proposed, what specific legal basis and factual prerequisites support that intervention?", "kind": "action", "id": "competent-intervening-authority-q02" } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "conservation-and-shared-use", "name": "Conservation and shared use", "description": "Capture measures and interactions that constrain use of an otherwise accessible marine area.", "rationale": "Fishing controls, environmental obligations and interference with other uses require geographically and temporally specific assessment.", "layers": [ { "id": "resource-and-environmental-measures", "name": "Resource and environmental measures", "description": "Find measures applicable to the activity, actor, species and area.", "findings": [ { "id": "applicable-conservation-controls", "name": "Applicable conservation controls", "description": "Record the reach and effective period of conservation and environmental requirements.", "questions": [ { "text": "Which fishing measures, protected-area measures or environmental-assessment requirements cover this activity at this time?", "kind": "boundary", "id": "applicable-conservation-controls-q01" }, { "text": "Which issuing instrument establishes each measure's applicability to this flag state or operator?", "kind": "provenance", "id": "applicable-conservation-controls-q02" } ] } ] }, { "id": "interaction-with-other-users", "name": "Interaction with other users", "description": "Evaluate interference with existing marine uses and infrastructure.", "findings": [ { "id": "due-regard-and-conflict", "name": "Due regard and conflict", "description": "Identify the adjustments needed when an operation affects navigation, fishing, research or subsea infrastructure.", "questions": [ { "text": "Which shipping routes, fishing grounds, research operations, cables or installations intersect the proposed footprint?", "kind": "measurement", "id": "due-regard-and-conflict-q01" }, { "text": "What separation, coordination or operational changes are needed to address interference and applicable due-regard duties?", "kind": "action", "id": "due-regard-and-conflict-q02" } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "operational-state-and-response", "name": "Operational state and response", "description": "Assess whether an operation is practicable and how incidents will be handled far from shore.", "rationale": "Legal availability does not establish safe operating conditions or timely access to assistance.", "layers": [ { "id": "marine-operating-conditions", "name": "Marine operating conditions", "description": "Relate local sea conditions and warnings to the proposed activity's limits.", "findings": [ { "id": "operating-window", "name": "Operating window", "description": "Record the conditions and forecast uncertainty that determine whether the operation can proceed.", "questions": [ { "text": "What waves, currents, winds, visibility, ice and navigational warnings apply along the operation's footprint and time window?", "kind": "measurement", "id": "operating-window-q01" }, { "text": "Which activity or vessel limits would require delay, rerouting or suspension?", "kind": "action", "id": "operating-window-q02" } ] } ] }, { "id": "distress-and-incident-coordination", "name": "Distress and incident coordination", "description": "Identify assistance and reporting arrangements without treating coordination areas as sovereignty boundaries.", "findings": [ { "id": "response-access-and-reporting", "name": "Response access and reporting", "description": "Connect distress, pollution and other incidents to reachable responders and appropriate reporting channels.", "questions": [ { "text": "Which rescue coordination centre, communication channels and response assets serve this location?", "kind": "provenance", "id": "response-access-and-reporting-q01" }, { "text": "For the anticipated incident, who must be alerted and what assistance can realistically arrive within the required time?", "kind": "action", "id": "response-access-and-reporting-q02" } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "evidence-and-external-alignment", "name": "Evidence and external alignment", "description": "What the world already says about this thing, gathered so the model can be checked against it.", "rationale": "A model that cannot be lined up against existing standards, identifiers and practice cannot be adopted by anyone who already uses them.", "layers": [ { "id": "reported-evidence", "name": "Reported evidence", "description": "Findings from the breadth pass, kept separate from the structural claims.", "findings": [ { "id": "evidence-kinds", "name": "Kinds and varieties", "description": "Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.", "evidence": [ "high seas (water column beyond EEZ or equivalent)", "the Area (seabed and ocean floor beyond national jurisdiction)", "Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (ABNJ) as a policy bundle of high seas plus the Area", "waters beyond the territorial sea but still under coastal-State resource jurisdiction (EEZ / continental shelf, often mislabelled international waters)", "straits used for international navigation (innocent / transit passage regimes)", "archipelagic waters with designated sea lanes (not high seas, but international navigation rights)", "polar high seas (Arctic Ocean high-seas pockets; Southern Ocean high seas under Antarctic Treaty overlay)", "disputed or unclaimed maritime belts treated as de facto high seas pending delimitation" ], "questions": [ { "id": "evidence-kinds-q01", "text": "Which of these kinds and varieties hold for the sense of international waters this model covers, and on what evidence?", "kind": "provenance" } ] }, { "id": "evidence-identifiers", "name": "Identifiers and schemes", "description": "Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.", "evidence": [ { "scheme": "Wikidata", "value_or_pattern": "Q104769", "note": "item 'international waters' / high seas as commonly labelled" }, { "scheme": "UNCLOS term", "value_or_pattern": "high seas (Part VII); the Area (Part XI)", "note": "treaty terms of art; 'international waters' is not a UNCLOS defined zone" }, { "scheme": "FAO / policy", "value_or_pattern": "ABNJ (Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction)", "note": "used in fisheries, biodiversity and BBNJ instruments" } ], "questions": [ { "id": "evidence-identifiers-q01", "text": "Which of these identifiers and schemes hold for the sense of international waters this model covers, and on what evidence?", "kind": "provenance" } ] }, { "id": "evidence-standards-and-regulation", "name": "Standards and regulation", "description": "Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.", "evidence": [ "UNCLOS 1982 (United Nations) - Parts II, V, VI, VII, XI: territorial sea, EEZ, continental shelf, high seas, the Area", "BBNJ Agreement (UN) - conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity in ABNJ", "IMO SOLAS, MARPOL, COLREGs, SUA Convention - ship safety, pollution, collision, maritime security on the high seas", "ISA Mining Code and exploration regulations (International Seabed Authority) - mineral activities in the Area", "UN Fish Stocks Agreement 1995 (United Nations) - straddling and highly migratory stocks on the high seas", "1958 Geneva Convention on the High Seas (United Nations) - still relevant for some non-UNCLOS parties", "Antarctic Treaty System / CAMLR Convention (ATCM, CCAMLR) - Southern Ocean overlay on high-seas freedoms" ], "questions": [ { "id": "evidence-standards-and-regulation-q01", "text": "Which of these standards and regulation hold for the sense of international waters this model covers, and on what evidence?", "kind": "provenance" } ] }, { "id": "evidence-real-world-use", "name": "Real-world use", "description": "Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.", "evidence": [ "Shipping routes and bunkering beyond 12 nm, under flag-State law and IMO instruments", "Distant-water fishing fleets and RFMO quota management on the high seas", "Naval operations, freedom of navigation operations, and boarding under universal jurisdiction (piracy, slave trade)", "Submarine cables and pipelines laid on the high-seas bed with limited coastal-State control outside the shelf", "Deep-seabed mineral exploration contracts issued by the ISA for the Area (Clarion-Clipperton Zone and others)", "Search and rescue, oil-spill response and vessel-source pollution cases where coastal-State powers drop with distance from shore", "Marine scientific research and weather/ocean observing systems in ABNJ", "Cruise, yachting and recreational 'international waters' claims (gambling, marriages) that often confuse EEZ with high seas" ], "questions": [ { "id": "evidence-real-world-use-q01", "text": "Which of these real-world use hold for the sense of international waters this model covers, and on what evidence?", "kind": "provenance" } ] }, { "id": "evidence-measurements", "name": "Typical measurements", "description": "Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.", "evidence": [ { "quantity": "breadth of territorial sea (inner bound of what people call international waters)", "typical_range": "12", "unit": "nautical miles from baselines" }, { "quantity": "contiguous zone outer limit", "typical_range": "24", "unit": "nautical miles from baselines" }, { "quantity": "EEZ outer limit (water-column national jurisdiction ends)", "typical_range": "200", "unit": "nautical miles from baselines" }, { "quantity": "continental shelf outer limit (seabed may extend further)", "typical_range": "200-350 (formula-dependent, Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf)", "unit": "nautical miles from baselines" }, { "quantity": "share of ocean classified as ABNJ / high seas", "typical_range": "about 60-64 of ocean surface (high seas); ~50 of seafloor as the Area", "unit": "percent of global ocean" }, { "quantity": "water depth in high-seas basins commonly used for shipping and research", "typical_range": "2000-6000", "unit": "metres" } ], "questions": [ { "id": "evidence-measurements-q01", "text": "Which of these typical measurements hold for the sense of international waters this model covers, and on what evidence?", "kind": "provenance" } ] }, { "id": "evidence-failure-modes-and-hazards", "name": "Failure modes and hazards", "description": "Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.", "evidence": [ "IUU fishing and unregulated high-seas fleets exploiting weak flag-State control", "Flags of convenience that leave safety, labour and pollution offences under-enforced", "Piracy, armed robbery and stateless-vessel problems (universal jurisdiction is narrow)", "Illegal dumping, MARPOL violations and slow attribution of oil spills far from shore", "Gaps between EEZ fisheries rules and high-seas RFMO coverage for straddling stocks", "Deep-seabed mining harm to poorly known ecosystems in the Area before a complete exploitation code", " collsion, SAR delay and medical evacuation distance on high-seas shipping lanes", "Coastal States over-claiming internal waters or excessive straight baselines, shrinking de facto international waters", "Military incidents from competing interpretations of innocent passage vs high-seas freedoms in EEZs" ], "questions": [ { "id": "evidence-failure-modes-and-hazards-q01", "text": "Which of these failure modes and hazards hold for the sense of international waters this model covers, and on what evidence?", "kind": "provenance" } ] }, { "id": "evidence-regional-variation", "name": "Regional variation", "description": "Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.", "evidence": [ "United States is not a UNCLOS party but treats most of UNCLOS as customary law and asserts a 12 nm territorial sea and 200 nm EEZ", "Some Latin American and African historic claims used 200 nm territorial seas before UNCLOS; residual political language still blurs EEZ and high seas", "China, some South China Sea claimants, and a few others assert security or historic rights in waters others treat as EEZ or high seas", "Mediterranean and enclosed seas: limited high-seas pockets because opposite coasts are closer than 400 nm", "Arctic: high-seas 'donut holes' (e.g. Central Arctic Ocean) plus extended-shelf claims; CAO Fisheries Agreement moratorium", "Southern Ocean: high-seas freedoms constrained by Antarctic Treaty, Madrid Protocol and CCAMLR", "Archipelagic States (Indonesia, Philippines) convert large sea areas to archipelagic waters, not high seas, with sea-lane passage", "UK/commonwealth and some others still use 'high seas' in statutes; popular English 'international waters' is broader and legally imprecise" ], "questions": [ { "id": "evidence-regional-variation-q01", "text": "Which of these regional variation hold for the sense of international waters this model covers, and on what evidence?", "kind": "provenance" } ] }, { "id": "evidence-neighbours", "name": "Neighbouring kinds and how to tell them apart", "description": "Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.", "evidence": [ { "name": "territorial sea", "difference": "Coastal State sovereignty (subject to innocent passage) out to 12 nm; not international waters. Test: is the location landward of the territorial-sea outer limit measured from lawful baselines?" }, { "name": "exclusive economic zone (EEZ)", "difference": "Coastal State has sovereign rights over resources and jurisdiction over artificial islands, marine science and environment to 200 nm, but other States retain high-seas-like freedoms of navigation and overflight. Test: resource rights vs water-column sovereignty - EEZ is not high seas (UNCLOS Art. 86)." }, { "name": "contiguous zone", "difference": "24 nm belt for customs, fiscal, immigration and sanitary enforcement only; not a resource zone and not high seas for those limited purposes." }, { "name": "continental shelf", "difference": "Seabed and subsoil rights may extend beyond 200 nm; the superjacent water may already be high seas. Test: water column vs seabed - different regimes can stack." }, { "name": "the Area", "difference": "Seabed beyond national jurisdiction, common heritage of mankind under ISA; not the same as the high-seas water column above it." }, { "name": "internal waters / ports", "difference": "Landward of baselines; no innocent-passage right as of right. Never international waters." }, { "name": "international strait (transit passage)", "difference": "May lie within territorial seas of bordering States; international navigation rights do not convert the water into high seas." }, { "name": "global commons / ABNJ", "difference": "Policy umbrella covering high seas plus the Area (and sometimes atmosphere/space by analogy); ABNJ is not a UNCLOS zone name." } ], "questions": [ { "id": "evidence-neighbours-q01", "text": "Which of these neighbouring kinds and how to tell them apart hold for the sense of international waters this model covers, and on what evidence?", "kind": "provenance" } ] } ] } ] } ] }, "openQuestions": [ "Should the registry definition adopt high seas as its canonical meaning, or retain a broader meaning that includes EEZ waters while explicitly distinguishing their regimes?", "Does an existing Vercy world model already cover this concept, requiring this registry entry to link to that publication?", "Which authoritative maritime-limit datasets provide adequate coverage, update history and representation of disputed claims for operational classification?", "How should the model resolve conflicting jurisdictional interpretations for a particular actor without presenting a disputed position as settled law?", "Which current global, regional and sectoral instruments, including measures under the BBNJ Agreement where applicable, create obligations for each assessed activity and actor?" ], "statistics": { "bundles": 6, "layers": 11, "findings": 18, "questions": 28 } }, "draft": { "generator": "vr.draft.v3", "status": "draft-generated", "researched": false, "archetype": "place or geographic feature", "method": "Written from the archetype playbook - what this kind of thing needs beyond identity and provenance - and from the structure that recurred across 6,333 models already researched by two engines. Applied to this entry by rule. No source was read for this thing and no claim here is researched. This entry carries no facets of its own, so they were inferred from its domain - a guess about a whole domain applied to one thing.", "facetsInferred": true, "nextPass": "A researcher replaces this draft with a sourced specification. Treat every sentence below as a proposal to argue with.", "purpose": "Give an agent a durable, checkable way to recognise a international waters, record what state it is in, and decide what may be done with it.", "whatItIs": "Enable an AI agent to identify a marine area's intended meaning as international waters, assess its conditions and applicable jurisdiction, and determine whether a proposed activity can proceed.", "characteristics": { "substance": "place", "origin": "natural", "agency": "inert", "mobility": "fixed", "scale": "geographic" }, "whatYouCanDoWithIt": [ "observed and measured", "entered, crossed or travelled along" ], "distinguishingFeatures": [ "Described in 60 Wikipedia languages, which is a measure of how widely the thing is known, not of how important it is." ], "openQuestionsForResearch": [ "Which of the bundles below does a real task actually need, and which are ceremony?", "What does this thing have that the facets do not capture at all?", "Which neighbouring kind is most often confused with a international waters, and on what evidence are they told apart?" ], "whatItIsMadeOf": "a portion of the world with an extent", "physicalCharacter": [ "On the scale of a landscape, measured in kilometres.", "Stays where it was put; moving it is a project.", "Does nothing on its own; everything it does, something else did to it.", "These come from the domain this entry sits in rather than from the entry itself, so treat them as a first guess about the whole domain applied to one thing." ], "whatCanBeDoneWithIt": [ "observe it, measure it, record its state", "enter it, cross it, travel along it" ], "howItIsRecognised": [ "Recognised by extent on the ground and by position, not by appearance. Two places that look alike are told apart by where they are." ], "relatedModels": [], "standing": "Described in 60 Wikipedia languages, which measures how widely it is written about rather than how important or how common it is.", "structure": { "bundles": [ { "id": "identity-and-classification", "name": "Identity, naming and classification", "description": "How an agent tells one international waters from another, and a international waters from things that resemble it.", "rationale": "Recognition comes before every other claim. Without stable identity nothing else in the model can be trusted to be about the same thing twice.", "layers": [ { "id": "naming-and-identifiers", "name": "Names and identifiers", "description": "The names this thing goes by and the identifiers that survive translation and time.", "findings": [ { "id": "preferred-name-and-aliases", "name": "Preferred name, aliases and local names", "description": "Which name to use, which names mean the same thing, and which merely sound similar.", "questions": [ { "id": "preferred-name-and-aliases-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the name of a international waters, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "preferred-name-and-aliases-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about the name of a international waters, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "preferred-name-and-aliases-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once the name of a international waters is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] }, { "id": "stable-identifiers", "name": "Stable identifiers and external keys", "description": "Identifiers that keep pointing at this kind of thing across systems and languages.", "questions": [ { "id": "stable-identifiers-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes an identifier for a international waters, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "stable-identifiers-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about an identifier for a international waters, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "stable-identifiers-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once an identifier for a international waters is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "classification-and-granularity", "name": "Classification and granularity", "description": "Where a international waters sits among kinds, and how finely a task needs to cut it.", "findings": [ { "id": "kind-and-parents", "name": "Kind, parents and neighbouring kinds", "description": "The classes this thing belongs to and the ones it is next to.", "questions": [ { "id": "kind-and-parents-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the kind of a international waters, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "kind-and-parents-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about the kind of a international waters, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "kind-and-parents-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once the kind of a international waters is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] }, { "id": "distinguishing-features", "name": "Distinguishing features", "description": "What separates a international waters from the things most often confused with it.", "questions": [ { "id": "distinguishing-features-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes what distinguishes a international waters, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "distinguishing-features-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about what distinguishes a international waters, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "distinguishing-features-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once what distinguishes a international waters is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "form-and-composition", "name": "Form, composition and condition", "description": "What a international waters is made of, what shape and size it takes, and what state it is in.", "rationale": "A physical thing can be measured, and a model that cannot record its measurements cannot support any decision that depends on them.", "layers": [ { "id": "form-and-dimensions", "name": "Form and dimensions", "description": "Shape, size, mass and the ranges these take across examples at geographic scale.", "findings": [ { "id": "measurable-dimensions", "name": "Measurable dimensions and their units", "description": "The quantities worth recording and the units they are recorded in.", "questions": [ { "id": "measurable-dimensions-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the dimensions of a international waters, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "measurable-dimensions-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about the dimensions of a international waters, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "measurable-dimensions-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once the dimensions of a international waters is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "material-and-composition", "name": "Material and composition", "description": "Materials, parts and how they are put together.", "findings": [ { "id": "parts-and-materials", "name": "Parts and materials", "description": "What a international waters is built from and which parts are replaceable.", "questions": [ { "id": "parts-and-materials-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the composition of a international waters, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "parts-and-materials-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about the composition of a international waters, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "parts-and-materials-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once the composition of a international waters is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "condition-and-integrity", "name": "Condition and integrity", "description": "Wear, damage, health and the difference between working and broken.", "findings": [ { "id": "condition-assessment", "name": "Condition, damage and health", "description": "How the condition of a international waters is judged and by whom.", "questions": [ { "id": "condition-assessment-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the condition of a international waters, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "condition-assessment-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about the condition of a international waters, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "condition-assessment-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once the condition of a international waters is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "place-and-movement", "name": "Place and movement", "description": "Where a international waters is, how it got there and where it may go (fixed).", "rationale": "A thing that can move needs its position recorded with a time, or every later claim about it is about a place it has left.", "layers": [ { "id": "location-and-placement", "name": "Location and placement", "description": "Position, containment and the reference frame the position is given in.", "findings": [ { "id": "position-and-frame", "name": "Position, container and reference frame", "description": "Where a international waters is, and what that position is measured against.", "questions": [ { "id": "position-and-frame-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the location of a international waters, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "position-and-frame-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about the location of a international waters, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "position-and-frame-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once the location of a international waters is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "movement-and-transfer", "name": "Movement and transfer", "description": "How a international waters is carried, installed or relocated.", "findings": [ { "id": "movement-events", "name": "Movement events and constraints", "description": "What counts as a movement, what records it and what limits it.", "questions": [ { "id": "movement-events-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the movement of a international waters, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "movement-events-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about the movement of a international waters, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "movement-events-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once the movement of a international waters is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "state-and-lifecycle", "name": "State and lifecycle", "description": "The states a international waters passes through and the events that move it between them.", "rationale": "Most decisions about a thing depend on what state it is in now, which is a claim with a time on it, not a property.", "layers": [ { "id": "lifecycle-stages", "name": "Lifecycle stages", "description": "From coming into existence to ceasing to be one of these.", "findings": [ { "id": "stages-and-transitions", "name": "Stages and transitions", "description": "The stages worth naming and what moves a international waters between them.", "questions": [ { "id": "stages-and-transitions-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the lifecycle of a international waters, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "stages-and-transitions-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about the lifecycle of a international waters, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "stages-and-transitions-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once the lifecycle of a international waters is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "observations-and-status", "name": "Observations and current status", "description": "What is observed about a international waters, how often and by whom.", "findings": [ { "id": "observation-record", "name": "Observation record", "description": "How an observation of a international waters is recorded so that it can be superseded rather than overwritten.", "questions": [ { "id": "observation-record-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes an observation of a international waters, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "observation-record-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about an observation of a international waters, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "observation-record-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once an observation of a international waters is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "use-and-operation", "name": "Use and operation", "description": "What can be done with a international waters and what it takes to do it.", "rationale": "An agent that can recognise a thing but not act on it has only half a model.", "layers": [ { "id": "intended-use", "name": "Intended use and function", "description": "What a international waters is for, and what it is used for anyway.", "findings": [ { "id": "function-and-purpose", "name": "Function, purpose and misuse", "description": "The function a international waters performs and the uses that fall outside it.", "questions": [ { "id": "function-and-purpose-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the use of a international waters, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "function-and-purpose-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about the use of a international waters, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "function-and-purpose-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once the use of a international waters is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "handling-and-procedure", "name": "Handling and procedure", "description": "The steps, skills and tools involved in using a international waters.", "findings": [ { "id": "procedures-and-skills", "name": "Procedures, skills and required tools", "description": "What an agent needs before it can act on a international waters at all.", "questions": [ { "id": "procedures-and-skills-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes handling a international waters, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "procedures-and-skills-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about handling a international waters, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "procedures-and-skills-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once handling a international waters is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "extent-and-geometry", "name": "Extent, geometry and naming", "description": "Where international waters is, how far it reaches, and what it is called.", "rationale": "A boundary is claimed by an authority rather than observed in the world, so the claimant belongs in the record with the geometry.", "layers": [ { "id": "geometry", "name": "Geometry and reference system", "description": "Coordinates, extent and the frame they are given in.", "findings": [ { "id": "geometry-record", "name": "Geometry, precision and frame", "description": "What is recorded about position and shape, and to what accuracy.", "questions": [ { "id": "geometry-record-q01", "text": "What geometry describes international waters, in which coordinate reference system, at what precision?", "kind": "measurement" }, { "id": "geometry-record-q02", "text": "Which authority publishes that geometry, and who publishes a different one?", "kind": "provenance" } ] } ] }, { "id": "names", "name": "Names and endonyms", "description": "What it is called in different languages and by different parties.", "findings": [ { "id": "naming-record", "name": "Names and who uses them", "description": "Official names, local names and contested names.", "questions": [ { "id": "naming-record-q01", "text": "By what names is international waters known, in which languages, and which are official to whom?", "kind": "definition" }, { "id": "naming-record-q02", "text": "Where naming is contested, what should an agent record instead of choosing?", "kind": "action" } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "containment-and-access", "name": "Containment, jurisdiction and access", "description": "What international waters sits inside, who governs it, and who may enter.", "rationale": "Administrative containment decides which rules apply, and it changes without the place moving.", "layers": [ { "id": "containment", "name": "Administrative containment", "description": "The units it belongs to and the date each holds from.", "findings": [ { "id": "containment-record", "name": "Containing units and effective dates", "description": "Where it sits administratively and since when.", "questions": [ { "id": "containment-record-q01", "text": "Which administrative units contain international waters, and since when does each containment hold?", "kind": "definition" }, { "id": "containment-record-q02", "text": "Which containment is disputed, and by which parties?", "kind": "boundary" } ] } ] }, { "id": "access", "name": "Access and permitted use", "description": "Who may enter or use it and under what conditions.", "findings": [ { "id": "access-rules", "name": "Access rules and their source", "description": "Entry, use and restriction, with the rule behind each.", "questions": [ { "id": "access-rules-q01", "text": "Who may enter or use international waters, under what conditions, and by whose rule?", "kind": "action" }, { "id": "access-rules-q02", "text": "What seasonal or conditional closure applies, and how is it announced?", "kind": "definition" } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "provenance-and-evidence", "name": "Provenance, evidence and time", "description": "Where every claim about a international waters came from and when it held.", "rationale": "A claim without a source and a time cannot be superseded, only overwritten, and an agent that overwrites loses the ability to explain itself.", "layers": [ { "id": "source-and-authority", "name": "Source and authority", "description": "Who said it, on what evidence, and how strongly.", "findings": [ { "id": "claim-provenance", "name": "Claim provenance and confidence", "description": "The authority behind each claim about a international waters and how confident it is.", "questions": [ { "id": "claim-provenance-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes a claim about a international waters, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "claim-provenance-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about a claim about a international waters, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "claim-provenance-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once a claim about a international waters is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "time-and-versions", "name": "Time, versions and supersession", "description": "When a claim was true, when it was learnt, and what replaced it.", "findings": [ { "id": "validity-and-supersession", "name": "Validity period and supersession", "description": "How an old claim about a international waters is retired without being erased.", "questions": [ { "id": "validity-and-supersession-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the validity of a claim about a international waters, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "validity-and-supersession-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about the validity of a claim about a international waters, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "validity-and-supersession-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once the validity of a claim about a international waters is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] } ] } ] }, "statistics": { "bundles": 8, "layers": 17, "findings": 19, "questions": 53 } } } }