4 ms·

Nobody was going to build these roads until the government came along. Checkmate, Libertarians.

by kodyo 4y ago

pyuser583 4y ago
In all fairness, the legal situation in outerspace is very anti-private business. It was based on the Antarctic Treaty which basically says "everything here must be done under the auspices of a government, and non-public activities are to be avoided." We should have based it on the Law of the Sea which says "As long as a ship is flagged by a government, it can do pretty much what it wants as long as it follows customary rules." You can't own territory on the open sea, but if you're using it for something, it's yours for as long as you're using it. That would be a good rule for the moon but realistically, if a powerful agency wants you to move, you move.
- nerpderp82 4y ago
  The seafloor is being auctioned off.
  - nradov 4y ago
    Some countries are auctioning long-term seabed leases within their national waters or EEZ for purposes like offshore wind farms. But the seafloor under international waters isn't being auctioned off.
    - nerpderp82 4y ago
      The world is on the cusp of robotic mining of the seafloor on a massive scale. The International Seabed Authority is the organization formed to sell mining rights in international waters. You know weapons manufacturers and oil/gas will be chomping at the bit to build hardware to support these operations. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Seabed_Authority https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Seabed_Authority https://www.isa.org.jm/exploration-contracts https://www.isa.org.jm/exploration-contracts https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/apr/01/worlds-seabed-regulator-accused-of-reckless-failings-over-deep-sea-mining https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/apr/01/worlds-s... https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/03/world/deep-sea-mining.html https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/03/world/deep-sea-mining.htm... https://www.politico.com/news/2022/03/22/seabed-mining-regulations-00019005 https://www.politico.com/news/2022/03/22/seabed-mining-regul...
- JoeAltmaier 4y ago
  Governments can make all the pronouncements they like about things in space. It'll be the people living there that decide what they do and don't do.
HPsquared 4y ago
It's the next step beyond a "road to nowhere". These would be from nowhere, to nowhere.
wmf 4y ago
The Moon has no (net) commercial value so of course the market is wisely not building infrastructure where it's not needed.

Nobody was going to build these roads until the government came along. Checkmate, Libertarians.

by kodyo 4y ago

Nobody was going to build these roads until the government came along. Checkmate, Libertarians.

In all fairness, the legal situation in outerspace is very anti-private business. It was based on the Antarctic Treaty which basically says "everything here must be done under the auspices of a government, and non-public activities are to be avoided." We should have based it on the Law of the Sea which says "As long as a ship is flagged by a government, it can do pretty much what it wants as long as it follows customary rules." You can't own territory on the open sea, but if you're using it for something, it's yours for as long as you're using it. That would be a good rule for the moon but realistically, if a powerful agency wants you to move, you move.

nerpderp82 4y ago
The seafloor is being auctioned off.
- nradov 4y ago
  Some countries are auctioning long-term seabed leases within their national waters or EEZ for purposes like offshore wind farms. But the seafloor under international waters isn't being auctioned off.
  - nerpderp82 4y ago
    The world is on the cusp of robotic mining of the seafloor on a massive scale. The International Seabed Authority is the organization formed to sell mining rights in international waters. You know weapons manufacturers and oil/gas will be chomping at the bit to build hardware to support these operations. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Seabed_Authority https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Seabed_Authority https://www.isa.org.jm/exploration-contracts https://www.isa.org.jm/exploration-contracts https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/apr/01/worlds-seabed-regulator-accused-of-reckless-failings-over-deep-sea-mining https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/apr/01/worlds-s... https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/03/world/deep-sea-mining.html https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/03/world/deep-sea-mining.htm... https://www.politico.com/news/2022/03/22/seabed-mining-regulations-00019005 https://www.politico.com/news/2022/03/22/seabed-mining-regul...
JoeAltmaier 4y ago
Governments can make all the pronouncements they like about things in space. It'll be the people living there that decide what they do and don't do.

HPsquared 4y ago

It's the next step beyond a "road to nowhere". These would be from nowhere, to nowhere.

wmf 4y ago

The Moon has no (net) commercial value so of course the market is wisely not building infrastructure where it's not needed.