[LEAPSECS] POSIX and C (Was: Re: ISO Influence)

[Jonathan E. Hardis]

On Dec 24, 2010, at 10:51 AM, Rob Seaman wrote:


>> On Dec 23, 2010, at 5:45 PM, Jonathan E. Hardis wrote:

>>

>>> WHERE under U.S. jurisdiction is UTC (no offset) the legal, civil  

>>> time?

>>

>> Cleaner answers still await, however.

>

> Commercial aircraft in flight?


Close enough.  U.S. Flag vessels, and I was thinking primarily of  
ships.  Ships in international waters are generally under the  
jurisdiction of the flag state, and the zone of UTC+0 is found in the  
south Atlantic Ocean, west of Africa, the north Atlantic Ocean, e.g.,  
near the Canary Islands, and the North, Norwegian, and Greenland  
Seas.  http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/world_maps/timezones_2001.jpg

The other classic example of extraterritorial jurisdiction consists of  
diplomatic posts, such as embassies. One can fuss about who actually  
has jurisdiction over an embassy, the host nation or the represented  
nation, but in general embassies follow local civil timekeeping  
customs.  While London may follow "GMT," I would guess that UTC would  
be the legal, civil time in Dublin, Reykjavik, and Lisbon, and West  
African capitals such as Dakar, Monrovia, and Rabat.

     - Jonathan