--- Henry Spencer <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > On Fri, 6 Aug 2004, Alex Fraser wrote: > > People own property because states recognise > deeds, no state no > > ownership (other than firepower allows). > > More precisely: states are the level at which "as > firepower allows" is > considered legally legitimate as a way of settling > such questions.
Some would debate whether even states are legally allowed - except that even today, it tends to work when used, especially when it involves the eradication of the opposing state's government. > > The oceans beyond national limits are a commons > > and people have worked this out legally for years. > > Careful here: ocean-floor mining is a trouble spot, > afflicted by many of > the same legal problems that could trouble > commercial exploitation of > space resources, and hence not much pursued. That's > not a good ideal to > aim for. Actually, the UN conventions seem to pretty solidly define the limits. When mobile, you're treated as a ship; when immobile, you're treated as an oil rig or other artificial island. They do require a tax, starting after 5 years of production, with compliance exacted through your state. (Any ship or artificial island in international waters claiming no nationality may be seized by any warship at any time, under the same convention, which seems to treat statelessness as a crime just short of piracy, since the stateless refuse to be governed by any law.) _______________________________________________ ERPS-list mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://lists.erps.org/mailman/listinfo/erps-list
