The discoveries have been made possible by leaps in development of offshore drilling technology, computers and three-dimensional imaging that can pinpoint where the best reserves lie, and advanced mooring equipment to stabilize platforms in deep waters.
And next year online casinos will be legalised in an effort to regulate and tax a fast-growing industry that, although often British-owned, is served by computers offshore.The government is hoping to repeat the success it had earlier with the betting industry.
The offshore trade in computer memory cards is probably even more lucrative.
"It is a myth that you can evade the jurisdiction of the U.S. courts by putting a computer offshore," Ms. Anderson of Microsoft said.
Drawing on the only tsunami data available, captured by a GPS tracking system set up 12 miles offshore, researchers used computer modeling to conclude that the breakwater had done its job: it had reduced the height of the first wave by 40 percent, delayed its landing by six minutes and saved countless lives.
It is registered as an offshore company and uses computer servers outside the US in a bid to evade government coercion.
Mrs. Pirro said that Mr. Garon, who was running his business from his home computer, had $1 million in offshore bank accounts.
In 2008, the VAT loophole trade was worth £110m according to the Treasury; critics allege it is now far higher, with greetings card business Moonpig and computer game retailers thriving offshore.
Already, a significant amount of basic computer programming work has gone offshore to fast-growing Indian outsourcing companies like Infosys, Wipro and Tata Consultancy Services.
Even though most computer models expected Hilary to remain offshore, meteorologists suggested there was a possibility of making landfall near Manzanillo.
