[meteorite-list] Lorton meteorite should be 'the people's rock'

From: cdtucson at cox.net <cdtucson_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu, 4 Feb 2010 15:45:11 -0500
Message-ID: <20100204154511.DHE1O.309367.imail_at_fed1rmwml43>

George,
You make a very good point here. The question I have is why do you think this is so cut and dry.
I mean one could argue that the doctors were in legal control of this rented office space at the time of the collision. Are they not renting the air space? I understand they do not own the building or the land but they do own legal right to the use of the property. Don't you think it should be up to the courts to decide who owns a visitor that lands on and subsequently inside the building?
For an example of a similar situation; If a patient dropped say a dollar bill on the floor during a visit and walks out, does that dollar bill automatically become owned by the landlord? I think it might belong to the finder?
Were the courts correct in their ruling in the Hodges case?
I mean, if I got hit by a meteorite the least I should get is ownership. Maybe I'm wrong but, I am not the decider here.
I think the courts should take a look at this case for clarification between legal usage and legal ownership issues. What if it had killed the doctor?
Could the doctors wife sue based on the fact that the landlords own it whether they claim it or not?
Because certainly if somebody slipped on a banana peel the landlord is safe from restitution by the injured and the liability should fall (no pun intended) on the tenants. I mean afterall they do have legal use of the space.
I understand the current precedent goes to the land owner but,
I think the question is basically a landlord tenant question. If in legal possession of the land and or air space. Who owns a rock that lands there? Carl

--
Carl or Debbie Esparza
Meteoritemax
---- George Blahun Jr <ks1u at att.net> wrote: 
> We should all be concerned about this law and not be complacent.  Up until the 1980s the Communications Act of 1934 prohibited anyone from owning the electromagnetic spectrum.  It was considered the "peoples spectrum".  During the 1980s the telecommunications industry bought off a corrupt and ignorant congress and FCC and had the laws rewritten.   In that case the ownership by the people, I felt, was a good thing.  After all those radio waves are constantly passing through our bodies and on our properties, so we should all have access to them. Instead of insisting on the industry encrypting their signals, it became illegal to descramble any radio or tv signals unless you paid some company.  In the current view, the land owner does (and I believe should) have ownership of meteorites.  We should all be vigilant that some politician or museum director does not start an effort to overturn this.  All it takes is some money and a few greedy politicians (redundant I know).  I don'
 t 
>  see any immediate changes on the horizon, I'm just cautioning against complacency.
> 
> George 
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Received on Thu 04 Feb 2010 03:45:11 PM PST