Eros has landlords

--- In spacesettlers@y..., Ian Woollard wrote:
> Unfortunately under international law individuals and companies
> don't exist except as an extension of the government that they
> are subject to. This means that you can't actually, legitimately,
> lay claim to any interplanetary body.
>

CLAIMS REGISTRY GUIDELINES

TYPES OF CLAIMS

Class A Claim

Claim based upon a physical in situ examination of the claimed site
by human claimants or their human agents.

1. A valid Class A claim on a specific site is considered superior to
all other classes of claim on the same site. This priority holds
whether all or a part of a specific site is subject to conflicting
claims.

2. Unless otherwise stated in the claim, a Class A claim is defined
by a square having sides of [0.1, 0.5, 1, 2, 5, 10] kilometer[s] and
whose center point (or points) shall be defined by any and all
locations visited by the human claimant or the claimant's agent. Two
sides of such a square shall be parallel to the pertinent longitude
line passing through the center point or points of the claim.[ For
the purposes of this section, when a body subject to a claim lacks a
standardized longitude survey, the end points enclosing the shortest
diameter of the body in question shall constitute the North and South
poles for the purpose of determining orientation of the claim in
question.]

3. Priority among conflicting Class A claims shall be determined
based upon the first claimant to have physically investigated the
claimed site. Where there is insufficient evidence to determine
priority among any remaining claimants to a specific site based upon
time of investigation, priority shall be granted to the party holding
the strongest secondary class of claim. In the event that none of the
conflicting claimants have filed lesser claims or that such lesser
claims do not encompass all of the area being claimed in the Class A
filing, priority shall be granted on the claim (or remaining portion
thereof) to the first claimant to file its claim application.

Class B Claim

Claim based upon physical examination of the claimed site through
roving or fixed mechanical device, whether such device is robotic or
teleoperative in nature.

1. A valid Class B claim on a specific site is considered superior to
all other classes of claim on the same site except where such claim
is subject to a conflicting Class A claim.

2. Unless otherwise stated in the claim, a Class B claim is defined
by a square having sides of [0.1, 0.5, 1, 2, 5, 10] kilometer[s] and
whose center point (or points) shall be defined by any and all
locations visited by the mechanism. Two sides of such a square shall
be parallel to the pertinent longitude line passing through the
center point or points of the claim.[ For the purposes of this
section, when a body subject to a claim lacks a standardized
longitude survey, the end points enclosing the shortest diameter of
the body in question shall constitute the North and South poles for
the purpose of determining orientation of the claim in question.]

3. Priority among conflicting Class B claims shall be determined
based upon the first mechanism to have physically investigated the
claimed site. Where there is insufficient evidence to determine
priority among any remaining claimants to a specific site based upon
time of investigation, priority shall be granted to the party holding
the strongest secondary class of claim. In the event that none of the
conflicting claimants have filed lesser claims or that such lesser
claims do not encompass all of the area being claimed in the Class B
filing, priority shall be granted on the claim (or remaining portion
thereof) to the first claimant to file its claim application.

Class C Claim

Claim based upon discovery of a heretofore unknown extraterrestrial
object within the solar system by telescopic observation or other
means of remote sensing.

1. A valid Class C claim on a specific site is considered superior to
all other classes of claim on the same site except where such claim
is subject to a conflicting Class A or Class B claim.

2. A Class C claim shall be based upon recognition of the discovery
by the International Astronomical Union.

3. No Class C claim shall be recognized for objects confirmed by the
International Astronomical Union prior to the establishment of this
registry.

Class D Claim

Claim based upon any basis not described in any other classification.
The resource being claimed may be of any dimension or scope.

1. Priority among conflicting Class D claims shall be determined
based upon the size of the claim. The lesser area claimed shall be
granted priority over the greater. In the event the area claimed by a
claimant is less than ten thousand (10,000 sqm) square meters, such a
claim shall be considered to equal ten thousand (10,000 sqm) square
meters for the purposes of determining priority.

2. In the event that there shall be a conflict between Class D claims
of identical size, priority shall be issued to the earliest filing.

////////////////

All of my claims are class D claims.

Right now, even though I have declared myself a Freeman, the claims
are essentially meaningless. They just mean that nobody else can
extend a class D claim on those objects. If I launch a probe of any
kind to any of those objects, my claim becomes a class B claim. If I
send _people_ there, then I have a class A claim.

Once a class A claim is established, there is nothing anybody can do
about it. A colony established on a class A claim could
substansively argue independence and nationhood in its own right.
Precedent has been set: http://www.sealandgov.com/

:) ed