free market requires private property, if ora owned the rights of the asteroid, you couldn't touch it.

Space is too big to police... a glorious new age of piracy will arise.

I WILL still say, "shiver me timbers" when I'm stealing your space-ore.

At this point, it would probably be a joint international venture anyhow, but assuming it went private then the countries would divide up the known asteroid space between them and let private industry then do something much like land in the West during the Great Migration of 1843 in that those who got there first would stake a claim and file it, being allowed up to a certain acreage and then it was legally theirs. Of course, plenty of folks had "accidents" on the way to the claims office and someone else took their claim, but in the modern communications age and with the world watching, I would think this would be less of a problem. :-)

"a glorious new age of piracy will arise"

Visions of "You Only Live Twice" are running through my head. :-)

My droid will use it's vaguely phallic extension to hi-jack your droid and hi-jack your ship.

EMP sent out in advance shuts down all electronics then my fleet moves in and carves up the asteroid like the machines in the Matrix carving up a hovership fleet.

I was being quite facetious, but since you bring it up... The question is then, how did orathaic get his rights to the asteroid? Did he have to have been the first one there? Does this usher in a new era of exploration and colonization along the lines of the exploration of the new world? Will asteroids and planets (or portions thereof) get claimed by certain countries or corporations? Who handles disputes?

What if my robotic miner gets there first? Is that sufficient to claim it? Do I even need to be there to claim it? If not, can I just have my lawyer draw up a document giving me rights to that asteroid? Who approves said document? Who do I "buy" the asteroid from? (Rabbit trail: Why are people allowed to purchase the rights to name a star? Who decides if a star doesn't already have a name? What if another civilization lives at that star? Who the heck am I to tell them what their star should be named? Would I get a refund?)

Coming back more to the point, but still as an aside: with GEO becoming more and more cluttered, does anybody know how "parking spaces" in GEO are 'assigned/purchased/etc'? Who is responsible for GEO traffic control, so to speak? If North Korea/Iran/whoever tries to put something in orbit, where/how do they get permission, and if they don't get that permission and they destroy another nation's property up there, whats the appropriate response?

I'm not familiar with the international treaties orathaic mentioned, so I'm guessing some of the answers are found there, but what about a country that doesn't accept the treaty, or a private international corporation operating out of multiple countries or specifically operating out of countries that aren't part of the treaties?

Regardless of current treaties, what should the answers to these questions be?

http://www.cityrating.com/costofliving.asp

California is one of the most expensive states in the nation to live in, taxes and expenses combines. Putin, of course, is once again full of horse shit with his skewed information.

"Rights to an asteroid" <sigh...> Nobody owns them, you don't need rights...Your biggest problem is going to be finding a place to launch your rocket from, which will require paying off the proper government officials.

@Krellin - it's not about who owns them now, it's about staking a claim and havign a peaceful space expansion, not a return to the wild wild west frontier days with families being slaughtered for their land before dad can make it to the filing office in the "not so nearby" city.

As far as launching things into space, the government isn't the only one with launchpads. Plenty of private companies have the capability to launch their own satelites and could build or already have private launch sites. With the shuttle mothballed, private industry is going to step in and fill that void as well as getting the tourism or transcontinental in 2 hour flights happening, so that is, at leats in the US, falling *out* of the government's hands. Realtively speaking, it won't be long before the FAA becomes the FSAA and has to start monitoring launches by private space carriers.

Well, since there is only one company in the race....and nobody else in immenent danger of competing, I think it's a non-issue. That being said, I would love to watch the satellite video images of space fights.

Private launch pads....are government regulated. Nobody launches anything in to space without greasing palms...just my opinion.

"Private" "monitor" -- aren't those contradictory terms? You make my point for me...

"Private" and "Monitor" are not contradictory. Delta, AA, JetBlue, etc. are all private airlines whose flights are montiored and regulated by the FAA.

@krellin - There may be only one company in the race for manned flights, but plenty in the satellite business who are capable and have put their own satellites into orbit. It's no big stretch to see them contracted out to shift from orbital unmanned missions to longer range stuff. We won't be mining this shit by hand after all. So the companies with orbital satellite launching capability could readily ramp up to superorbital robotic launching capability.

Sure, you can *buy* a ride on a rocket ship for your private satellite, but it isn't *your* rocket, and nobody is launching rockets without government over-site. Because...you know...rockets can carry *bombs*. You think any superpower is going to start letting people launch rockets willy-nilly?

@Draugnar...so, if the government sets up a camera in your bedroom to monitor you, you will still have privacy?

@krellin - Monitoring the flights, not the internal operations, my friend. But you are intentionally being obtuse. I can tell. You knew what I meant. Nice troll try but... Epic. Fucking. Fail. :-)

A good example would be that my yard is private property, but the government monitors what I build on it through building permits.

In short, I guess my definition of "private" is different from yours. Technically I suppose yes, your airlines are labeled "private" because of the "ownership". I do not consider their authoritarian over-site of our government to be consistent with "private", particularly when they can come in and extract financial penalties for whatever they deem offensive (you sat on the tarmac too long in a storm...)

So...the left is wining...people think "private" equates to "do whatever you want as long as it is within strict government guidelines"

I don't believe I "own" my private property *exactly* for the reason you state. When I am told what I can and can not do...and when they can come along and take it away from me if they so choose...that does not scream "private" to me.

@krellin - meh. Not interested in debating the merits of what could/should be and what private actually means. Sorry. Running with the modern definitionas established by our overlords. It ain't gonna change in my lifetime, so I just learnt o live with it.

lol Alllll-righty then. You still are never going to launch you "private rocket" without the government involved, and thus your wild-west scenario will not take place. for that matter, you will never buy space on a rocket for your "private" satellite without the government having the plans on file, either.

"I'm not familiar with the international treaties orathaic mentioned, so I'm guessing some of the answers are found there"

Yes, and that was the question i wanted to explore... Talking about what 'might' happen is pretty interesting, but what is the current legal situation?

Oh and i get my claim by claiming it. FYI orathaic owns all asteroids inside the orbit of Jupiter. See not to hard to make a claim ;)

Now what is the legaloty of my claim?

@krellin - Sure I will. In Soviet Russia, palm greases you! Hehehehe. But seriously, you don't think Gates couldn't just buy an island nation in the Pacific and launch whatevrer he wants from it? Admittedly, he'd be greasing the palms of that micronations politicians when he bought the island, but once he owns it, no greasing required. Just build the launch site and fire away.

Actually, legal claims are more specific than that, ora. But then you knew that. Otherwise someone would have just said "I claim the area from California to New Mexico and I'm calling it Megada."

I'm pretty sure someone did make that claim, along with texas; but they won a war which made any disputes over the claim moot.

Ok when it comes to pumping oil (for the sake of arguement) the natural resources are considered a common resource of the state (which for these purposes i will assume is the people) The state can license a private corporation to exploit these resources anf take a percentage of the profits as part of the license (or whatever licensing agreement the state happens to agree with)

Now i'm perfectly willing to license some or all or my asteroids to any companies who want to use them :)

I would like to point out, to those talking of attacking the operations of other corporations, there is currently an international treaty banning the weaponisation of space. Does this only apply to national militaries? Does this, in fact, mean that no signatury nation has legal right to enforce protection of their citizens and/or property once in space?

Would it be possible to take civil legal action on earth against anyone who damages your property? Which nation's court would have juriasiction?