Prior Consent to International Direct Satellite Broadcasting

In 1968, the American scholar John Cobb Cooper stated that 'too little attention has been given to the legal control of flight above the high seas which cover a large percentage of the earth's surface.' With certain notable exceptions this has remained true despite the acknowledged commercial, strategic & environmental significance of the airspace over the high seas. Intended especially for students & teachers of public international law but also for anyone with a professional interest in air law, this book seeks to give the legal regime of the airspace of the high seas the profile it clearly deserves. Chapters on delimitation & jurisdiction establish the conceptual foundation for an examination of particular aspects of the regime: the maintenance of public order (hot pursuit, piracy, broadcasting, environmental protection), the strategic use of the airspace of the high seas (air defence identification zones, the prevention of incidents, atmospheric nuclear testing, the deployment of weapons) & the use of force. Looking to the future, the final chapter discusses the desirability of regarding the airspace of the high seas as the common heritage of mankind. It concludes by offering a 'Declaration of Legal Principles concerning the Airspace of the High Seas' which might one day form the basis of the international convention.Fisher, David I. is the author of 'Prior Consent to International Direct Satellite Broadcasting', published 1990 under ISBN 9780792306924 and ISBN 0792306929.