Flare Sci-Fi Forums: Moon for sale...

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Posted by Futurama Guy (Member # 968) on :

Just to lighten the mood away from the threat of war I thought I would post this topic in light of a more positive future.

I saw this guy on Late Night with Conan O'Brien recently and thought this was pretty odd.

http://www.lunarembassy.com

Evidently you can buy acreage on the moon, Mars, Venus, Io for a mere $19.99US per acre (.4 ha) + $1.51 [outerspace] tax.

quote:
A declaration of ownership was filed with the United Nations as well as the US and Russian governments 23 years ago by Mr. Dennis M. Hope of the Lunar Embassy, to ensure that a legal basis for the ownership of the properties sold here can be claimed. On that wonderful day in 1980, the Lunar Embassy was born.

If this sounds like a joke to you, please read on, because this is no joke. The sale of lunar property has been ongoing for 23 years by the Lunar Embassy, which are THE ONLY COMPANY in the world to posess a legal basis and copyright for the sale of lunar, and other extraterrestrial property within the confines of our solar system. This is discussed in detail in our general FAQ on this website as well as our space law page (Warning...that one is heavy reading!).

Just to save you some time, due to some crazy UN loophole in the Outer Space Treaty of 1967, which 'explicitly forbids any government from claiming a celestial resource such as the Moon or a planet'. This guy realized that despite this, individuals could own property on the moon, and evidently he took it upon himself to claim the moon, and the rest of the solar system as his own.

So far the "Lunar Embassy" has revealed that approximately 250 very well known celebrities as well as two former US presidents are extraterrestrial property owners. This includes approximately 15 main actors from the original Star Trek series, as well as the Next Generation and Voyager series.

Posted by Harry (Member # 265) on :

And as to why you would want a piece of the moon, this answers all your questions.

Posted by Jason Abbadon (Member # 882) on :

Holy fuck....i'm speachless at the stupidity.

Posted by MinutiaeMan (Member # 444) on :

I first heard about this... erm, endeavor a few years ago. It amazes me that such intelligence (figuring out the loophole, understanding international law) can be paired with such stupidity.

And, what the fuck is with that "space tax"? He's not a government -- at least, not one that's recognized by any REAL government on the planet -- so how can he charge a tax?

Of course, the answer is because the people buying the real estate are too stupid to know better. [Roll Eyes]

Posted by deadcujo (Member # 13) on :

His story is that through a loophole he claimed ownership. But all of this is under the assumption that there are no lifeforms on the other planets. If there are, he's out of luck. [Smile]

Posted by Da_bang80 (Member # 528) on :

The US was the first to land on the moon, they planted the flag... So does that make the moon property of the US?

Like in colonial times, they'd plant the flag and the land would be property of whatever country sent the explorer.

That'd be cool.

Posted by The_Tom (Member # 38) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Da_bang80:
Like in colonial times, they'd plant the flag and the land would be property of whatever country sent the explorer.

That'd be cool.

Yee-haaaaw! It's everyone's favourite period of historical wrongdoing!

Posted by Grokca (Member # 722) on :

quote:
Like in colonial times, they'd plant the flag and the land would be property of whatever country sent the explorer.

You could not do that without permission from the Pope or a king though.

Posted by Futurama Guy (Member # 968) on :

Hmm, I imagine in that case, Neal Armstrong might have said: "I claim this land in the name of America, Nixon, and all that is good"....

I think it mentioned on the website in the FAQ that NASA made no such claim on the moon at the time of the moonlanding, or for that matter now. Its not like it really matters now anyway, its just a huge chuck of rock with a few footprints, tire tracks and a small collection of human trash.

Posted by Futurama Guy (Member # 968) on :

quote:
Originally posted by MinutiaeMan:

Of course, the answer is because the people buying the real estate are too stupid to know better.

Could be worse: http://www.starregistry.com/

For $48 you could have a star named after you. Imagine in 200 years, when we make some extraterrestrial encounter with Bob Johnsonians of the planet Bob Johnson IV in the Bob Johnson Starsystem..... [Roll Eyes]

Posted by The359 (Member # 37) on :

Actually, my sister bought one of those stars for her friend's family, since their one son died in a car wreck last year and he was into astronomy and scifi.

Posted by Sol System (Member # 30) on :

I was going to mention the buy-a-star scam. I mean, the certificate is nice, and that was certainly a very nice gesture. But the names don't get recorded anywhere that matters. The same goes for your plots of lunar real estate.

Posted by Jason Abbadon (Member # 882) on :

quote:
Its not like it really matters now anyway, its just a huge chuck of rock with a few footprints, tire tracks and a small collection of human trash. [/QB]

Like Utah. [Big Grin]

Posted by TSN (Member # 31) on :

But the moon isn't crawling w/ Mormons. Yet.

Posted by Futurama Guy (Member # 968) on :

They'll be the pilgrims of the stars.....

Posted by Vogon Poet (Member # 393) on :

There's a Shelbyville gag in here somewhere. . .