Corporate Ownership of Worlds

[Stravo]

In the future Corporrate Conglomerates are the true pioneers of space travel. Governments simply don't have the time and funds to invest in large scale colonization efforts.

So what if in this future whoever lands on a world first claims ownership? This law is enacted as an incentive for these companies to push as fast as possible into space.

Would it be something desirable and correct for instance to have Europa under the dominion of a Swiss-German congomerate while an American-Japanese consortium seize control of Jupiter for mining and processing? Can a company own a world? Is it ours to own in the first place? What ramifications does this have for the future when the large companies own the solar system? Will governments soon find themselves dwarfed by companies that control entire worlds?

And even if we scale back the law to allow for multiple owners of a planet that still cuts out government and people from any say as to what happens on these worlds as companies work hard at forging their new duchies.

[CaptainChewbacca]

www.lunarembassy.com

[Junghalli]

The Trade Federation comes to mind.
This would be fine with planets that just have an outpost on it, but I can see it causing problems when the planetary population starts growing. If you have an Earthlike world with millions of citizens owned by a corporation people will probably start wanting some sort of democracy rather than being considered default employees simply by living there (one wonders how that work on a heavily populated planet anyway).

[Xenophobe3691]

Well, it's not like there aren't parallels in History, for example, the British and Colonization of the world vs. what the Spanish and the French did...

[Chris OFarrell]

www.lunarembassy.com

I LOVE that site. Just to see the looks on their 'clients' faces when the US or someone plonks a moonbase down on one of their peices of real estate and completly ignores their shrill protests.

I can't belive it frankly. That people would be stupid enough to buy things on this website. In the end, it'll fall appart, people will start screaming for their money back...except the people who own this site have run off to live with the Swiss with their millions of dollars...

[Jalinth]

www.lunarembassy.com

I LOVE that site. Just to see the looks on their 'clients' faces when the US or someone plonks a moonbase down on one of their peices of real estate and completly ignores their shrill protests.

I can't belive it frankly. That people would be stupid enough to buy things on this website. In the end, it'll fall appart, people will start screaming for their money back...except the people who own this site have run off to live with the Swiss with their millions of dollars...

I always thought this was a gag gift website. If people are taking it seriously, they are stupid.

I did like the bit in the faqs about governments have signed they have no rights at all to these bodies. Pure bullshit.

[Broomstick]

Look up "Hudson Bay Company" and "Dutch East India Company" for some history of corporations and explorations/settlements.

[Hardy]

I can't belive it frankly. That people would be stupid enough to buy things on this website.

I actually almost did buy from him, but I learned just in time.

I did buy Lunar "property" from another organization who don't explicitly claim to own the Moon. The money raised by selling plots goes to that company's efforts to get to the Moon on private funds, rather than for profit. In the remote event that they do colonize the Moon and get the rights to the land on the moon, the customers are promised the rights to the land they purchased.

I myself don't take it too seriously, treating it more as a novelty item, or something to aim for when observing the moon, than actual property. It's definitely not the best $20 I spent, but it does seem cool.

If you think that's stupid, you're probably right

[Axis Kast]

quote] In the future Corporrate Conglomerates are the true pioneers of space travel. Governments simply don't have the time and funds to invest in large scale colonization efforts.

[/quote]

I find myself basically agreeing with your thesis.

Although, in effect, many space programs are funded by a Parastatal configuration – a privately-managed corporation afforded public funding and input – I concur, on the basis of recent developments like the X-Prize context, that corporate sponsors are likely to be the big movers and shakers in space in the future.

So what if in this future whoever lands on a world first claims ownership? This law is enacted as an incentive for these companies to push as fast as possible into space.

It’s theirs. How do we stop them? Somebody would have to either preemptively destroy their launch facilities, or perform an intercept of the launch vehicles (assuming they’re aware of the precise payload in the first place). If you can’t do that, the corporation could get away with arming an asteroid or other space body and then establishing a position of relative supremacy. Remember how easy it is to “weaponize” space – throw some bolts or nails out the back of your craft, and velocity will do the rest.

Would it be something desirable and correct for instance to have Europa under the dominion of a Swiss-German congomerate while an American-Japanese consortium seize control of Jupiter for mining and processing? Can a company own a world? Is it ours to own in the first place? What ramifications does this have for the future when the large companies own the solar system? Will governments soon find themselves dwarfed by companies that control entire worlds?

I think, in a lot of cases, governments would try to reign in these companies, or at least have enough of a stake in these ventures that they’d retain the capability to add working input.

I’m not sure if conglomerations are really feasible in the long term. Combinations make sense now, when everyone is struggling just to put short-term vehicles into orbit and conduct scientific experiments. Mining, however, tends to be slightly less conducive to multilateral applications. There’s already precedent to think this way. Technically, seven equatorial countries tried to “nationalize” their orbital-space. Nobody listened. It wasn’t in their interest.

Do I think corporations might muster more power than governments? Well, I think that if a corporation made it big in space, they’d probably have significant terrestrial resources, too. Deep sea exploration and all that; perhaps even big contracts that give them the run over huge tracts of the Third World.

Really, corporations might have an advantage in terms of being able to deploy weapons platforms. At little cost, they could amass great military power. On the other hand, they’re probably going to have to search for willing and capable colonists or technicians willing to work in the dangers of space.

This is really all just speculative. For my Global Security Politics class, I just read Marc E. Vaucher, who as of 1984 predicted orbital factories and weapons systems by 1990. No go. Then the shuttle disasters. My professor also pointed out that we still lack an efficient rad-shielding system for habitable space craft if we want to send people to Mars. The technical hurdles even for a corporation are humongous. Furthermore, nations may be able to use the “catch-up” effect to bring their programs to fruition nearly as quickly as the most successful corporations.

[Darth Wong]

Any extraterrestrial colony would have an insignificant population relative to that of Earth or any large national power on Earth, due to the extreme difficulties of colonization. So any corporation with an extraterrestrial presence would undoubtedly have the vast majority of its assets located squarely on Terra Firma, where governments would be able to put the thumbscrews to them if they wanted to.

Look at Antarctica for an example of an inhospital environment where no nation holds sway. In the event that extraterrestrial colonies were created I would tend to expect something similar to the Antarctica Treaty where numerous nations declare a form of stewardship despite lacking direct territorial claims.

[Stravo]

Look up "Hudson Bay Company" and "Dutch East India Company" for some history of corporations and explorations/settlements.

That is sort of the inspiration for this thread in the first place.

[SirNitram]

Well, to be blunt, worlds are shitty investments. The cost of hauling materials to orbit before you can even start sending them home is gonna be killer. Further, it's completely ridiculous to bring large populations unless there's massive government kickbacks.

Finally, the idea that only corporations can afford this is so patently ridiculous I had to stop and laugh. How many businesses are shelling out more than the US budget, again?

[Axis Kast]

Look at Antarctica for an example of an inhospital environment where no nation holds sway. In the event that extraterrestrial colonies were created I would tend to expect something similar to the Antarctica Treaty where numerous nations declare a form of stewardship despite lacking direct territorial claims.

It may only be a temporary state of affairs. As we develop tools better suited to living and working in extreme cold, it may be that the drives to open Antactica to economic activity and to settle territorial claims held in abayance until now will gain strength.

Posted: Thu Mar 10, 2005 1:41 pm    Post subject:


Well, to be blunt, worlds are shitty investments. The cost of hauling materials to orbit before you can even start sending them home is gonna be killer. Further, it's completely ridiculous to bring large populations unless there's massive government kickbacks.

Well, technically, it would be easiest if a corporation were to mine a low-gravity body and then ship the minerals to orbital facilities for processing. Of course, I agree that we're engaging in wild speculation here.

[The Vodka Vindicator]

If the corporation WAS the entity which discovered it then yes they could indeed own entire worlds. The status of the hudson bey company and the dutch east india company seems the closest to what a corporate owned world would be like.

[SirNitram]

Posted: Thu Mar 10, 2005 1:41 pm Post subject:


Well, to be blunt, worlds are shitty investments. The cost of hauling materials to orbit before you can even start sending them home is gonna be killer. Further, it's completely ridiculous to bring large populations unless there's massive government kickbacks.

Well, technically, it would be easiest if a corporation were to mine a low-gravity body and then ship the minerals to orbital facilities for processing. Of course, I agree that we're engaging in wild speculation here.

'Roids and other debris are the best, as you don't have to go 'up'. Planetary populations are pretty much exclusively going to be governmental colonies.

[Axis Kast]

'Roids and other debris are the best, as you don't have to go 'up'. Planetary populations are pretty much exclusively going to be governmental colonies.

Oh, naturally.