509 
The United States position at the Law of the Sea Conference is 
generally much closer to that of the Soviet Union than to the develop- 
ing countries. The United States differs from the Soviet Union on 
the quota and contracting system. The United States would permit 
private entities to enter into contracts with the international authority 
with no quota on the number of areas so long as they were paired 
with equivalent areas for the authority. Since it controls a number 
of Eastern European countries, the Soviet Union would obviously 
gain by its proposal for a quota system recognizing only states. Both 
the United States and the Soviet Union are agreed on the right of 
all States to explore and exploit the seabed on an equal footing 
and without discrimination, and oppose exploitation only under direct 
control by the Authority. 
The basic contention in the Law of the Sea seabed debate is 
between the industrialized countries and the developing countries 
which favor a strong international authority with ‘‘direct and effective 
control” over all activities and, preferably, direct seabed exploitation 
only by that authority. 
