Dartz Wrote:On the other hand, there're bound to be those with the idea that sticking a beacon on an asteroid and calling it 'yours' while doing nothing at all with it is terribly imperialistic. Or something.Consider the list of asteroids in the wiki. Only one of those listed has a marker beacon instead of a presence, and that claim is only respected because it's backed up by some of the biggest names in the Convention. And the list on the wiki was valid as of Season 1; who knows what's changed in the half-decade since then?
It's not hard to send an automatic probe out to drop beacons... regardless as to the content of the asteroid. Claim them quick before anyone else can get up off their arse and actually survey them, in that way denying them to the competition. In general, the concept of possesion of asteroids should be limited to those who're actually using them.
As opposed to those who just don't want their competitors to use them first, and will survey them later. Just look at how modern patent law is evolving if you don't think that's going to happen.
There is a far larger potential for conflict than just conflicting claims. In Fenspace, such beacons would only really be honoured as far as the person placing them would be respected by Space at large. Start putting too many down without doing anything with them, and people start ignoring them.
(Aside: Must remember to update the wiki.)
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."
- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012