Thanks, Willhiem, for posting about this. I have seen several videos discussing this idea, and have been researching it for a few years now. I have to say that after hundreds of hours I've invested in this, I still do not have a clear idea about how practical or useful or relevant this stuff is. I am an advocate for personal freedom and my political/social views tend towards anarchism or libertarian socialism. I have found over the years, however, that a lot of the conspiracy authors of videos and written material of this kind of stuff tend to be influenced by the NWO/One World Government conspiricism that originated in right wing circles that get a lot of their idea from a combination of 1) apocalyptic millennial Christians, who interpret biblical prophesies to claim that a tyrannical one-world government has long been working to take over and crush freedom, democracy and Christianity throughout the globe, and 2) right wing "patriot" movements - militant anti-government types, who are generally mistrustful of all departments and expansion of government on every level, "socialists", and any "outsiders" of the white "American" patriot types and yearn for a return to the "good old days" - an America defined as a white, homogenous, conservative, christian, heterosexual, "pure" society of people who look like themselves.
I think it is useful to view this stuff within the context of the historical roots of NWO/One World Government conspiricism and the links that this "personal sovereignty" movement has had with these other right wing groups, even when these links are not explicitly made, or even known about, by all of the advocates of the sovereignty movement.
For better or for worse, the internet has rapidly spread the awareness and influence of these concepts. Before the early 1990s, New World Order conspiracism was limited to two American countercultures, primarily the militantly anti-government right, and secondarily that part of fundamentalist Christianity concerned with the end-time emergence of the Antichrist. Since the 1990's, right-wing populist conspiracy theories about a New World Order had not only been embraced by many seekers of non-mainstream, alternative knowledge, but had seeped into popular culture, thereby inaugurating a period during the late 20th and early 21st centuries in the United States where people were actively preparing for apocalyptic millenarian scenarios. Now, not just the fringe right wing part of the population, but even a growing proportion of the left counterculture as well, seems to be awash with "UN Agenda 21 are coming for your children" type of conspiracy nonsense. And I say that as someone who considers myself a member of the left counterculture.
This wikipedia entry below should be required reading for anybody with the least bit of interest in conspiracism in general or the overarching NWO/One World Government conspiracy specifically.
I have been hearing about this concept of 'Maritime Law' and 'Personal Sovereignty' for several years now, mostly by advocates of libertarianism. I was drawn in due to my anarchist/libertarian sentiments and the idea that we can escape the overbearing government police state bureaucracy is very attractive. However, I have found over the years that a lot of claims along these lines of people being able to escape these oppressive laws and bureaucracy via the use of "Maritime Law" have not been proven and much of it remains theory. Many people who have attempted to utilize these techniques in our legal system have been unsuccessful and are often laughed at or ignored by police offers, judges, etc., so some of the advocates of this are not fully informing people of the risks involved and the trouble they can find themselves in if following their dubious legal advice.
New World Order (conspiracy theory)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_World_Order_(conspiracy_theory)
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/45/Great_Seal_of_the_United_States_%28reverse%29.svg/200px-Great_Seal_of_the_United_States_%28reverse%29.svg.png