Hatrack River Forum: Owning Land on the Moon?

This is topic Owning Land on the Moon? in forum Books, Films, Food and Culture at Hatrack River Forum.

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Posted by RackhamsRazor (Member # 5254) on :

Please tell me this story is not true:

quote:
Beijing company sells land on the moon
BEIJING, Oct. 27 (UPI) -- Chinese authorities are investigating a Beijing company, registered only last month, that claims to sell land on the moon, the Beijing News reported Thursday.

The Beijing Lunar Village Aeronautics Science and Technology Co. registered on Sept. 5 to conduct business activities including space travel, development of the moon and sales of land on the moon, the newspaper reported.

The domestically financed company claimed registered capital of $1.23 million, but local authorities said it had only 100,000 yuan (about $12,000).

The company, which calls itself the Lunar Embassy in China, offers an acre of land on the moon for $37. The company issues customers a certificate of entitlement including rights to any minerals located up to 3 kilometers (nearly 10,000 feet) underground.

Li Jie, chief executive officer of the company, claimed he had received several hundred telephone orders in the past few days, Xinhua reported.

It just seems ridiculous. What gives them the right?

Posted by KarlEd (Member # 571) on :

To my knowledge anyone can claim rights to just about anything anywhere. The trick is to actually protect that claim when faced with a conflicting claim. In other words, they are safe doing this (provided they aren't breaking anti-fraud laws) until such time as someone challenges the claim. It's very unlikely that such a venture would have any practicle value. If the US starts a base on the moon and it happens to be on land this company has "sold", the US would likely take the stance that it does not recognize the authority of the company and therefore the claims are invalid.

There have been companies in the past that have given away or sold plots of land on Mars, the Moon, and (I believe) Antarctica. The fact is if you could get to the moon now you could "claim" as much land as you want. It would be interesting to know how you might intend to enforce your claim once you got there.

This is very similar to the "International Star Registry" which gets press this time of year. They sell the right to name a star, and pitch this as the perfect Christmas gift. However, what you are really paying for is the right to send them a name which they will assign to a star on their list. There is no guarantee, or even claim, that the name you choose will be recognized by anyone outside the ISR itself (which is just a commercial venture and has no authority to enforce any names it sells). So you end up with a nice official-looking piece of paper. If you want anyone else to start using your name, well, you have to handle enforcement yourself. [Wink]

Posted by Parsimony (Member # 8140) on :

There was an American company, a few years back, who was doing this same thing. It is pretty much meaningless. At the time you got a "deed" to your one acre plot and a satellite map of what you now owned. Just in case you wanted to put a starbucks there, I suppose.

--ApostleRadio

Posted by aspectre (Member # 2222) on :

It's the same American company: they copyrighted the idea; just as the StarRegistry copyrighted theirs. And both do go to court to enforce their copyrights.
At which point, the competing startup quits cuz their own moon-selling/star-naming franchise doesn't generate enough cashflow to make it worthwhile to fund the legal cost of a copyright battle.

Posted by pH (Member # 1350) on :

My thoughts:

We are Mooninites from the inner core of the moon. Our race is hundreds of years beyond yours. Some would say that the Earth is our moon. But that would belittle the name of our moon, which is: The Moon.

[Razz]

-pH

Posted by Goo Boy (Member # 7752) on :

I bought Cor some land on the moon for a gift one year.

[Smile]

Posted by Parsimony (Member # 8140) on :

So you're saying that your culture is advanced because you can jump really high?

--AR

Posted by pH (Member # 1350) on :

Our vertical leap is beyond all that you can comprehend with one hundred percent of your brain.

-pH

Posted by SteveRogers (Member # 7130) on :

I own the whole moon. As well as Neptune. And I have a full military force on both locations to back it up.

Posted by Nell Gwyn (Member # 8291) on :

Who owns the stuff between the moon and Neptune? And are you at war with them?

Posted by Princess Leah (Member # 6026) on :

I own Uranus.

Yes, Uranus is OWNED.

<flinching...>

Posted by Princess Leah (Member # 6026) on :

(I am truly sorry. I had to.)

Posted by ricree101 (Member # 7749) on :

quote:
Originally posted by aspectre:
It's the same American company: they copyrighted the idea; just as the StarRegistry copyrighted theirs. And both do go to court to enforce their copyrights.
At which point, the competing startup quits cuz their own moon-selling/star-naming franchise doesn't generate enough cashflow to make it worthwhile to fund the legal cost of a copyright battle.

Until, of course, there is any serious reason to own a piece of the moon. Then we'll see how long they hold up in court. [Big Grin]

Posted by Lyrhawn (Member # 7039) on :

I won Venus a couple years ago in a card game but I'm thinking of selling it.

Too many angry women live there.