Privatize the ocean to deal with pirates

Peter T. Leeson over at The Corner suggests:

One suggestion that isn't being considered, but should be, is to privatize the seas — especially those off Somalia's coast. As the old adage (at least among economists) goes, "What nobody owns, nobody takes care of." This is as true for oceans as it is for anything else. Piracy is just one manifestation of nobody taking care of what nobody owns when that "what" is the sea.

....

Rather than trying its hand at Somali state building, the international community should try auctioning off Somali's coastal waters. According to some Somali pirates, greedy foreign corporations are exploiting valuable resources in these waters, which is allegedly why they've resorted to piracy (the large ransoms earned from pirating are a happy but unexpected byproduct of pursuing social justice, I suppose). If this is right, Somalia's coastal waters should be able to fetch a handsome price. The international community can use the proceeds of the auction for humanitarian assistance in Somalia, or put it in a trust for Somalia's future government, if one ever emerges. The "high seas" should be similarly sold. It's not so important where the proceeds go. The important thing is that the un-owned becomes owned.

Establishing private property rights where they don't currently exist is the solution to about 90 percent of world's economic problems. Piracy is no exception.