Comments on: Lawyers in Space! The New Era of Spaceflight Needs Some New Rules

By: Georg

Georg — Tue, 19 Jun 2012 14:17:00 +0000

“”I really wish I could live to see that.”"
It’s more than 100 Years now, since Einstein
found reason why this is /will be impossible.
I wish I lived to see the day, when all
mankind knows that.
Georg

By: gendotte

gendotte — Mon, 18 Jun 2012 18:47:28 +0000

I would say that the Law of the Sea will eventually be the basis for Space law. The two are very much alike,really. Vast, but with rules for exploitation. As we move out, it will be necessary to establish some common sense rules. Asteroids are no one’s property, but things mined therefrom would become private property at the moment of mining.

Eventually, I am sure that private companies will lead colonists to extra solar planets. I would expect that they will not do this for anything but money, but the Leif Ericsons among us, probably sponsored by the National (Galactic?) Geographic Society will explore for the fun of it.

I really wish I could live to see that.

By: Georg

Georg — Thu, 14 Jun 2012 17:34:16 +0000

“Lawyers in Space!”

Excellent idea!
Remember that already Brobdignians
had a lot of success after sending lawyers and some
other professions (“projekt makers” and so on) to a
island of their own, without return.
At least 50 % of al problems specific to US result
from too many lawyers esp. in parliaments.
Georg

By: Romain

Romain — Thu, 14 Jun 2012 03:44:18 +0000

@Lab Lemming : Hum, for somebody who seems to be in a lab, may be you should improve your reading skills…

“Odd as it may sound, every piece of space junk does actually still belong to the nation or company that launched it, and they are liable for any damage the junk inflicts on other orbiting objects.”

Now if object A and B collide, and A is owned by A’, B by B’… It will result in thousands of debris… Which one is from A, which one is from B (thus putting the responsibility on A’ and B’ for each debris) ? It is a very difficult question if one of those hits and creates damage on an object C.(we do not know if it was originating from A or B in most cases)

Then… effectively then your question makes sense.

Now, the easiest and most logical way to deal with chain reaction would be that they consider the % of responsibility for A’ and B’ during the initial collision, and then have all related chain of damage’s responsibility taken with that %.

By: Lab Lemming

Lab Lemming — Thu, 14 Jun 2012 01:07:19 +0000

Who is liable for damage caused from debris released by satellite collisions?

By: Space: The Not-So-Final Frontier for Aspiring Lawyers | The Conference Channel Blog

Thu, 07 Jun 2012 21:19:19 +0000

[...] commons” for free and peaceful use, leave it to the lawyers to ask the questions about liability, safety and property ownership. In fact, James Cameron might already be breaking the law (or at the very least stepping on some [...]

By: Catalyst23

Catalyst23 — Thu, 07 Jun 2012 19:51:57 +0000

Of all the areas of the law, I have to imagine that international commerce and space are two of the most complicated. Which means that defining rules for asteroid mining has to create massive headaches for people as they try and figure out the best path forward. Does planting a radio beacon on an asteroid make it private property, or must some one actually start mining it? What about criminal and civil forfeiture, does the asteroid revert to the commons or to the state? If a defunct satellite bashes into my working satellite, is any further damage done by the pieces of my (now shattered) satellite my responsibility, or that of the owner of the defunct satellite?

I wish you the best of luck in trying to figure this out. For me, I’m going to go read webcomics until my head stops hurting.