Moon Ownership and Law
Land Ownership; The Bundle of Rights
Land Ownership; The Bundle of Rights
The two most popular Latin principles in relation to ownership of land are; Quid quic plantatur solo solo cedit — whatever is affixed to the soil, belongs to the soil and Cuius est solum, euis est usque ad coelum et ad inferos — whoever owns the soil, owns everything above it to the Heaven and everything beneath it all the way to hell. For any person seeking to own or buy or lease any property, these principles can bring both comfort and a heightened sense of responsibility; or at least they should.
Real property or real estate falls in several categories; personal property — which is the houses, apartments, bungalows, mansions et al that we see all around us and either buy or rent; intangible property — which is something one owns that has no physical existence but is represented by a tangible object, for example, a share certificate, and real estate — which is the ownership of land and or things permanently affixed to the land. Real estate is a “bundle of rights” and thus is limited by federal and state law and by case law. In the United States, the right to own property is enshrined in the 5th Amendment of the Constitution which provides that, “No person shall be … deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.” In addition to this, State laws from the largest Sate, Alaska to the smallest Sate, Rhode Island, and every Sate in-between, provide for the rights of individuals to own property whether as homeowners or tenants. The comfort, protection and responsibility these laws give an individual guarantee that one enjoys a roof over their head and that of their loved ones and that they live in community with the rest of humanity.
The Moon, The United Nations and governing laws
In light of this, ownership of the moon comes as a rather, maybe new concept. If you are hearing for the first time of the plausibility of an individual owning a piece of the moon, take comfort in the fact that you are not alone. As early as 1958, the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) was initially created as a small expert unit within the United Nations Secretariat to service the ad hoc Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space. It is thus the branch of the United Nations that is responsible for responsible and peaceful use of outer space and all it’s resources. In addition, the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS) was set up by the General Assembly in 1959 to govern the exploration and use of space for the benefit of all humanity: for peace, security and development. The Committee was responsible for reviewing international cooperation in peaceful uses of outer space, studying space-related activities that could be undertaken by the United Nations, encouraging space research programmes, and studying legal problems arising from the exploration of outer space. The Committee was instrumental in the creation of the five treaties and five principles of outer space. The fundamental treaty is the Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies, or simply the Outer Space Treaty.
The treaty came into operation in October of 1967 and its key principles are that;
· the exploration and use of outer space shall be carried out for the benefit and in the interests of all countries and shall be the province of all mankind;
· outer space shall be free for exploration and use by all States;
· outer space is not subject to national appropriation by claim of sovereignty, by means of use or occupation, or by any other means;
· States shall not place nuclear weapons or other weapons of mass destruction in orbit or on celestial bodies or station them in outer space in any other manner;
· the Moon and other celestial bodies shall be used exclusively for peaceful purposes;
· astronauts shall be regarded as the envoys of mankind;
· States shall be responsible for national space activities whether carried out by governmental or non-governmental entities;
· States shall be liable for damage caused by their space objects; and
· States shall avoid harmful contamination of space and celestial bodies.
To support the Outer Space Treaty, four other treaties were put into place in the 1960s and 1970s to support peaceful space exploration.
Outer Space Treaties
The “Rescue Agreement” (1968), formed to give astronauts assistance during an unintended landing or when they are facing an emergency. States are told they “shall immediately take all possible steps to rescue them and render them all necessary assistance.”
The “Liability Convention” (1972), outlines possible solutions if a space object causes damage or loss to human life. Its first article states, “A launching state shall be absolutely liable to pay compensation for damage caused by its space object on the surface of the earth or to aircraft….”
The “Registration Convention” (1975), was established to help nations keep track of all objects launched into outer space. This United Nations registry is important to avoid things such as space debris. In line with this, for NASA, the United States Strategic Command gives real-time updates to the agency if space debris threatens a spacecraft or the International Space Station.
The “Moon Agreement” (1979), gives more detail on the Outer Space Treaty for property rights and usage of the moon and other celestial bodies in the solar system, except for objects that naturally enter the Earth from these bodies, that is, meteorites.
The COPUOUS has also created five sets of principles to support the above treaties;
The “Declaration of Legal Principles” (1963), from which the Outer Space Treaty was created in 1967, lays down guiding principles, major of which is the idea that space exploration is for the benefit of all mankind.
The “Broadcasting Principles” (1982), has to do with television broadcast signals. These principles include the idea of non-interference with other countries’ signals, the provision of information to help with knowledge exchange, and the promotion of educational and social development.
The “Remote Sensing Principles” (1986), concern the use of electromagnetic waves to collect data on the Earth’s natural resources. Remote-sensing activities are supposed to be for all countries’ benefit and should be carried out in the spirit of international cooperation.
The “Nuclear Power Sources Principles” (1992), concerns how to protect humans and other species from radiation if a launch goes wrong, or a spacecraft flying close to the Earth accidently crashes on its surface.
The “Benefits Declaration” (1996) says that space exploration shall be carried out for the benefit of all states. This was created two years before the International Space Station — an effort of 15 nations — launched its first two modules into space.
What then can be gathered from these key principles and treaties of the Outer Space Treaty, is that outer space and its fascinating resources are for the absolute enjoyment of all of mankind. As of June 2019, 109 of the world’s nations are signatories to the Outer Space Treaty with 23 countries yet to ratify it. This shows that on paper at least, the governments of the world are committed to keep open to all of mankind the treasures of outer space.
Acquisitive Prescription
Acquisitive prescription is a method of acquiring property by meeting certain statutory requirements in relation to continuous possession and which vary by state. In essence, it is when a person stays on another’s land for long enough and with the intention of claiming that land they are occupying as their own. In Common Law jurisdictions it is referred to as adverse possession. The broad principles of acquisitive prescription are that; it must be of immovable property, be public, peaceful and unequivocal possession for a number of years.
Each state’s law however specifies the amount of time a person must have possession of the property before it can be legally claimed. For example, in Kentucky, a person must occupy the land for at least 15 years, while California requires a person to occupy the land for only 5 to 7 years thus requiring the least amount of time of all the states. Some states even require the person to have paid the property taxes during the statutory possession time period. Possession in this manner will usually prevail over rights registered in the land register though the party pleading acquisitive prescription typically has the burden of proving the necessary elements.
Examples of acquisitive prescription range from continuously using a private road, agricultural development of unused land and most commonly in the United States, two neighbours with no clear demarcation of their land then one day neighbour A puts up a fence on what neighbour B feels is part of their land. Such a case is usually resolved by a mutual understanding between the neighbours. However, depending on the land and the neighbour’s activities, the matter may end up being a legal tassel.
Leading Acquisitive Prescription Case Law
On April 6, 2017, the Supreme Court rendered an important decision in Ostiguy v. Allie, 2017 SCC 22. In this case, Ms. Allie alleged that she could use a parking space on her neighbours’ property, having become its owner over time by way of acquisitive prescription. Her new neighbours, Mr. Ostiguy and Ms. Savard, however, sought an injunction. The main issue was whether acquisitive prescription can be set up against a new owner whose title was registered in the land register before the possessor’s right was asserted in court. Writing on behalf of the majority of the Supreme Court, Justice Gascon replied in the affirmative and ruled in favour of Ms. Allie. Ms. Allie acquired the parking spot on her neighbours’ property and could set up this acquisition against her new neighbours by way of prescription, even if they were unaware of the situation when they purchased the neighbouring property and even if Ms. Allie had not yet instituted proceedings to have her rights recognized at the time that they became the owners.
This case law and the Supreme Court’s position on it could prove to be helpful for persons wishing to gain ownership of space on the moon. No government or entity can claim ownership of the moon and the Outer Space treaty does not bar ownership by individuals. Therefore, an exercise of one’s acquisitive prescription rights could prove to be useful.
Moon ownership; today’s possibilities.
Majority of the world super power nations are finding clever ways to not be bound by the Outer Space principles and treaties and below the surface, these and other nations are getting caught up in a race to ownership of the moon and other common resources belonging to mankind. It is not just nations that seem to be in this race for ownership, interpretation of the Outer Space Treaty is open to the possibility of private individuals or corporations being owners of outer space and thus the even the moon. For instance, the Jürgens family of Germany say the moon has been family property since 1756, when the emperor of Prussia awarded the satellite to the Jürgens patriarch as a gesture of gratitude and stipulated that it would be passed on to his sons. Similarly, then mission statement of the Lunar Embassy, established in 1980 by Dennis Hope who claims to be the only man who solely owns the moon provides that, “We are the expression of the true intent on the 1967 Space Treaty Article II; These Celestial Bodies to be held in benefit of all humanity. We are the vehicle by which all of humanity can realize their equity share. Not Governments, not Multinational Corporations…Individual property ownership. Be a voice for all humanity. The more land owners we have joined together in this family, the greater our collective voice against attempts at infringement. Our commitment is to make sure that our celestial bodies are reserved for ALL of humanity. WE SHIP WORLDWIDE. So sit back, relax and gaze up at your property. You can own a piece of the moon and you can buy it here at the Lunar Embassy”.
These stories may seem a tad far fetched and one may wonder what is the big deal? The moon appears as it always has been, a seemingly silent grey chunk of pockmarked rock so why would a country or even an individual go through the fuss of acquiring the moon. This is the thinking nations, individuals and corporations seeking to own the moon are banking on to reduce the number of interests in the race to own the moon. However, one would be keen to know that the moon is a wealth of resources; titanium, iron, aluminium, helium-3and even water. These resources together with the reality of global warming, overpopulation, impending water scarcity, increasing world poverty, diseases and the very real possibility of running out of space on earth, individuals should be looking at the possibility of owning property on the moon.
The DIANA Project.
The Diana project is a group of like-minded individuals determined to ensure that individuals share in the common heritage that is the Moon. The vision of the DIANA project is, “decentralize Moon registration and issue a cosmic cryptocurrency to the participating citizens. Through this, Moon ownership, which is the common property of mankind, is to be returned to the citizenry rather than centralized interest groups (nation or organization).
This is a global citizen movement whose goals include; Issuance of Cosmic Crypto currency, decentralization of moon ownership through citizen participation and civil revolutions for space assets. For one to be part of this ground breaking project, one must apply to the DIANA project and sign up on its register all of which is done on their website. An individual who is on the DIANA registry is best placed when the time comes for the DIANA project to contend with other “owners” of the moon as it is the only blockchain Moon registry and also when it makes future attempts at actual occupation of the moon.
The register enables the DIANA project and its participants to realize 3 key values that are technical, ethical and that have economic value;
· Technical value
a) Establishment of the first blockchain Moon registry station
b) Introduction of registration on distributed ledgers based on blockchain
c) Moon-specific ‘3word address algorithm’
· Social Value:
a) The collective ownership of a Common heritage site of mankind
b) Ownership of decentralized land assets
c) Equal opportunity for wealth
· Economic Value:
a) Publishing of crypto currency notes so that technical demonstrations (Moon registration system) and social demonstrations (Moon ownership) are circulated
b) Economic demonstration with strong motivation and stable risk (Low Risk, High Return)
c) Achievement of wealth distribution through Token economy
In addition, its objectives are; blockchaining of moon registration, establishing the basis for ownership of the moon through registration and issuance of DIA as proof of registration. DIA being the tokens the DIANA project uses for registration and proof of purchase. The DIANA project believes that the argument that particular individuals cannot own the moon is a misleading argument. The DIANA project has no ownership of the moon unlike the Jürgens of Germany and Dennis Hope but does believe that when in the future it becomes economically feasible to extract resources from space, there will be inevitable disputes over the ownership of these space resources. The project therefore believes that before a country or capital actually occupies and takes ownership and possession of the moon, a blockchain moon registration is required to make the moon a common asset for citizens who are jot part of any interest group. The DIANA project is thus a civil movement for moon ownership.
How the DIANA project handles moon ownership
The moon is divided into cells of the same size by applying a Goldberg polyhedron algorithm. The cells are hexagon is shape to ensure that the cells are the same size. The total number of cells are about 3.8742 billion cells. As the cells available for ownership are limited to the visible cells of the moon, the total number of visible cells are 2 billion. Therefore, Diana’s issue volume is limited to 2 billion as well. In order to achieve this distribution of the moon, the DIANA project will make use of the blockchain technology to issues its own DIA & MOND tokens. The blockchain technology is a virtual, public ledger that records everything in a secure and transparent manner. The benefits of blockchain technology are; greater transparency, enhanced security, improved traceability, reduced costs and increased efficiency and speed.
In addition, the DIANA project pursues a Global Decentralized Autonomous Organization (D.A.O.) and anyone in the world can contribute autonomously to DIANA regardless of their nationality, age, or place of residence. The D.A.O. culture makes DIANA unique and dynamic.
So, have you ever wanted to feel significant, feel more in tune with this universe, earth and your place in it? Have you needed to more adventurously express yourself, leave a unique heritage for your loved ones? Join the DIANA project today! The project is looking for a second batch of D.A.O. team members to work on a great project that will return the Moon to mankind. We think it is too narrow to limit your talent to the Earth, and we are looking for a free soul. You can participate in the entirety of the DIANA project while also creating and or support the area that suits your talents. The Outer Space Treaty cannot be interpreted to mean that an individual cannot be an owner of outer space and all its richness.
Resources
1. https://www.justia.com/real-estate/ (accessed 29th June 2019)
2. https://www.constitutionparty.com/principles/seven-principles/property-rights/ (accessed 29th June 2019)
3. http://www.unoosa.org/oosa/en/ourwork/spacelaw/treaties/introouterspacetreaty.html (accessed 29th June 2019)
4. http://www.unoosa.org/oosa/en/ourwork/copuos/index.html (accessed 29th June 2019)
5. https://definitions.uslegal.com/a/acquisitive-prescription/ (accessed 2nd July 2019)
6. https://legaldictionary.net/adverse-possession/ (accessed 2nd July 2019)
7. https://www.fasken.com/en/knowledge/2017/04/realestatelitigationbulletin-20170412/ (accessed 2nd July 2019)
8. http://www.lunarland.com/who-owns-the-moon (accessed 29th June 2019)
9. https://lunarembassy.com/ (accessed 29th June 2019)
10. https://diana.io/ (accessed 2nd July 2019)
11. The DIANA project White Paper (available in pdf form from the DIANA project website, accessed on 29th June 2019)
