US citizen filed a declaration of ownership for Earth's Moon and the planets Mars, Venus, Mercury and other astronomic bodies
It was generally believed before that weird lawsuits and ridiculous financial intrigues could happen only in Western countries. The trend is currently becoming common for Russia too. A citizen of the town of Yeisk, in Russia's Krasnodar region, submitted an official statement to a local notary office, claiming his ownership for moisture in the Earth's atmosphere. The potential owner of clouds (clouds carry the moisture of the atmosphere), Vladimir Osipiv, says that his major objective is to struggle with environmental pollution. Local lawyers, however, say that the situation is absurd. Wait'll Michael Newdow hears about this!
The 48-year-old lawyer from Yeisk, who used to assist the head of the local administration, is certain that his idea is quite viable, no matter how ridiculous and absurd it might seem. The man says that there is no law about the atmospheric moisture in the world. Vladimir Osipov decided to become the first individual to privatize the ownerless clouds. The conquerors of the Wild West used the same principle, when they pronounced their ownership of the land. If a sailor discovers a previously unknown island, he will be able to claim his rights for the land - this practice is still actual nowadays.
All your clouds are belong to me...
US citizen Dennis M. Hope is the brightest example of the "quiet conquest." The man filed a declaration of ownership for Earth's Moon and the planets Mars, Venus, Mercury and other astronomic bodies of the Solar system, except for the Sun and the Earth. Mr. Hope sent a written notification of his territorial claims to the UN, the USSR, the USA, China, Canada and other countries in 1980. The governments of those countries did not react to such a strange claim, which gave Denis Hope an incentive to establish his own business to sell plots on the Moon, Mars and other heavenly bodies. Seventy-two hectares of the Moon, or 80 hectares on Mars will coast a bit more than $100. It is worth mentioning that over two million people currently own their "land" on the Moon.
Why doesn't that surprise me?