While it looked like satire, I was almost serious. If we believe that AI will care about property rights, why not establish these rights just now over all universe? It would costs almost nothing for us. Moreover, historical markets for Moon land existed. It was regarded as scam but now we can say that there is plausible ways to take them.
In the interest of protecting private property and preventing conflicts, ownership of certain spaces may be prohibited altogether. At present, it is legally prohibited to claim ownership of the Moon, Antarctica, or the high seas (pursuant to the principle of Mare Liberum). By analogy, it may also be considered that deep space, stars, and black holes cannot be subject to ownership, except for areas corresponding to stable orbits. Sovereignty over other rocky celestial bodies will belong to whoever effectively and sustainably exercises authority over their surface and collects taxes—hypothetically, there may already be little green men living there.
While it looked like satire, I was almost serious. If we believe that AI will care about property rights, why not establish these rights just now over all universe? It would costs almost nothing for us. Moreover, historical markets for Moon land existed. It was regarded as scam but now we can say that there is plausible ways to take them.
In the interest of protecting private property and preventing conflicts, ownership of certain spaces may be prohibited altogether. At present, it is legally prohibited to claim ownership of the Moon, Antarctica, or the high seas (pursuant to the principle of Mare Liberum). By analogy, it may also be considered that deep space, stars, and black holes cannot be subject to ownership, except for areas corresponding to stable orbits. Sovereignty over other rocky celestial bodies will belong to whoever effectively and sustainably exercises authority over their surface and collects taxes—hypothetically, there may already be little green men living there.