1 - What is the legal drinking age? There is no legislated or widely enforced drinking age. Most establishments won't serve those under 18 however.
2 - Driving age? Again, there's no enforced age. Once you prove competence to the local registrar, you're good. Usual age however is 15.
3 - Age of sexual consent? The government tends to stay out of private residences.
4 - Voting age? Voting? You mean like in elections? Where'd you get the impression we have those. Everyone is a consumer and determines things based on who they buy from.
5 - At what age would someone become an adult (free from parental control)? Usually 17-18. Though the line is again not formal. Financial independence brings legal independence.
6 - What types of recreational drugs (if any) are legal? The government stays out of private residences and most business. Everything is legal unless under the influence someone causes problems, then police are brought in. Use of any recreational chemical is officially considered to remove you from most privileges such as driving.
7 - Can people have guns? Military hardware ownership, of all kinds, is unrestricted. Othyl employs a private military and police force, so private citizens cannot be limited. Usual practice involves both parties meeting in person, and sellers discriminate against the mentally inept in that manner. Most hardware is registered, but generally unregulated except by the industry.
8 - What is the official full name of your country? What is the informal name? What are people of your nation called?
Formal: The Incorporated States of Othyl and the Associated Territories
Informal: Othyl or ISO
Demonym: Othylite
9 - Do you have the death penalty? Since policing and most legislation rest in the hands of the private sector, a national stance on capital punishment would be relatively pointless. Public executions have been known to occur in some areas, while back-alley and vigilante justice is also wide spread. But a few more idealistic regions have done away with it.
10 - What is the speed limit? There's no legislation for speed limits. Transit companies post signs suggesting speeds, but it's not really enforced. That being said, punishments for driving related crimes are rather severe.
11 - What types of religions are permitted or restricted? There is no limitation on religion. That being said, there is no primary religion. Othylites usually will say that they're religious, but very few belong to a formal church.
Which of the following are legal:
12 - Porn - Generally an untouched industry. Some moralist groups have formed and passed de facto legislation to keep children out and the employees consensual. General public outrage prevents too much of the extremes from being popular enough to produce. Before the Collapse, laws were pretty strict and the public expects it to be the same.
13 - Prostitution - Legal with extreme self-regulation. Most business takes place in registered brothels, though 'house calls' aren't uncommon. Employees have a strong incentive to remain healthy so routine physicals of employees and customers are widespread. As an industry standard, a full physical more than three days old isn't accepted. It makes the industry rather unpopular, but it gets by.
14 - Polygamy/Polyandry/Polyamory - There's no legislation against it, though cultural rules step in and keep most folks to one spouse. Though legal partnerships are available for any number of persons to be considered a single entity, the laws on the books relating to it aren't really about marriage.
15 - Homosexuality - The government once again, stays out of a private residence. Legal partnerships are available.
16 - Stem cell research - Encouraged by the scientific community in Othyl. The advances it's brought so far has nearly all Othylites in support and the government doesn't like to stifle progress.
17 - Human Cloning - Legal and encouraged. A lack of resources for it however means that the technology is limited to well-funded biotech firms who keep their work out of the public eye due to widespread cultural misconceptions. A subtle PR campaign is on-going to change public opinion.
18 - Cock Fighting? - Fights between humans are legal, so no one saw a reason to make it illegal between chickens. Occasionally idealists will start a ruckus, but the public doesn't really care.
19 - Slavery? - Technically, it's illegal. However, it's not uncommon for corporations to exchange employees, or make contracts for what basically equates to slave labor. Temp agencies are jokingly referred to as slave auctioneers because of the contracts they make. The few prisons that exist also put convicts to work for no pay.
20 - Hunting? - It's not illegal, but you'd be hard-pressed to find a non-urban area of Othyl. A few private reserves have been established, and those are legal to hunt at, assuming you paid to get in.
21 - Fishing - Same thing with hunting, recreational fishing isn't practical outside of private fisheries established for that purpose. Commercial fishing goes on in the territorial waters around Othyl, with self-regulation to maintain population density of the fish.
22 - Eating meat? - People eat far worse things, the government doesn't judge.
23 - Littering? - No legislation against it, though regulations of transit firms and land owners usually prohibit it. Generally, if caught, the bill for the waste disposal contractors is just forwarded to the offender.
24 - Unisex bathrooms? - The government doesn't hope to impose legislation on something as trivial as lavatories.
25 - Suicide? Euthanasia is perfectly legal, usually understood to be a last resort however. Suicidal tendencies are considered to be signs of mental illness and most cases are simply referred to psychiatric institutions.
26 - Gay marriage? - Legal partnerships are available.
27 - Abortion - Legal. Though the practice is frowned upon by the public, biotech clinics hungry for stem cells will occasionally pay women for their aborted fetuses. De facto legislation prevents most of these agreements however. No one goes around getting pregnant to abort the pregnancy for a quick buck or anything.
28 - What types of sexual activity (if any) are illegal ? - Whatever goes on in a private residence isn't the place for government. What goes on beyond that is up to the citizens to decide, they'll put pressure on the police if they think something is out of line.
29 - Is your country's/culture clothing optional or mandatory? - Mandatory in all public areas. Private businesses and homes remain unmonitored.
30 - Do you have obscenity laws? Regional broadcasters will filter what their customers prefer.
31 - What system do you have for taxes? There are no taxes per say. The government consists of 14 megacorporations with the influence and buying power to bend the rest of the nation to their will. Each business is on it's own extremely profitable and by choice funnels some of that into the government to fund various programs. Most services are privatized however with the government merely providing some additional funding and oversight.
32 - What is the criterion for someone to pass to become a citizen? All children of Othyl citizens and children born in Othyl are granted citizenship at birth. Citizenship for foreign nationals is available generally by revoking former citizenship and making a permanent residence in Othyl. Citizenship grants no significant benefits, access to subsidiary funds for a few industries is about it. Most immigrants do not ever apply for citizenship and their children become citizens by default. Everyone in Othyl is subject to registering items, businesses and activities that are monitored. Residents of the Associated Territories are loosely considered citizens of Othyl, but they follow the laws of the Associated Territories.
33 - What types of people do you allow (or not allow) into your country? - Othyl maintains open borders and just watches for flagged passports or outstanding warrants, that sort of thing.
34 - What type of government are you? - Quite simply put, a coporatocracy. After the former government collapsed, 14 megacorporations united their leadership and assets to bring order to the nation. The governing style is very hands off and at most monitors things. Law making and enforcement are handled at the local level, where market pressures are relevant.
35 - To what degree is your government allowed to censor or restrict the media? One of the megacorporations that makes up the government, Franklin Telcom, is a massive telecommunications provider. So they could control or censor a great deal of the media where they provide service, but they are funded by their customers, so they don't dare do something out of line with market pressures.
36 - Aside from laws - what sort of unofficial (and unenforced) cultural rules and traditions do you have? Just about every law on the books is a cultural norm or industry self-regulation.
