Elon Musk’s SpaceX colony on Mars won’t follow Earth-based laws

[Elderberry]

NY Post By Natalie O'Neill 10/30/2020

The laws on Mars could be a little spacey.

Elon Musk’s planned colony on the Red Planet will not be ruled by any “Earth-based government” — and will instead adhere to its own “self-governing principles,” according to a report Friday.

The billionaire tech mogul’s SpaceX Mars mission — which will use constellations of satellites to provide an internet connection for the creation of a self-sustaining city on the planet — won’t be forced to recognize international law, according to terms of service of SpaceX’s Starlink internet project, cited by the Independent.

“For services provided on Mars, or in transit to Mars via Starship or other colonization spacecraft, the parties recognize Mars as a free planet and that no Earth-based government has authority or sovereignty over Martian activities,” the governing law section states.

Instead, disputes “will be settled through self-governing principles, established in good faith, at the time of Martian settlement,” it notes.

More: https://nypost.com/2020/10/30/elon-musks-spacex-colony-on-mars-wont-follow-earth-based-laws/
 

[Elderberry]

SpaceX Says There Are No Laws on Mars, So Maybe Elon Musk Will Be President

Popular Mechanics by    Caroline Delbert 10/30/2020

https://www.popularmechanics.com/space/moon-mars/a34525209/spacex-laws-mars-elon-musk-starlink-app/

Hey, who needs rules on the Red Planet?

•   Elon Musk's new terms of service for the Starlink app have shades of "sovereign citizen" about life on Mars.

•   An existing body of international treaties outlines how nations should behave in space.

•   Even with "no Earth laws," life on Mars will need to be very rigid and structured.
________________________________________
Users who downloaded SpaceX's new Starlink app noticed something fishy this week: The software’s terms of service claim there’s no law in place that will govern life on Mars, or just off of Earth at all. We’re not lawyers ... but is that something Elon Musk and SpaceX can even enforce?

SpaceX’s terms are, at the very least, ignoring the international laws of space set forth beginning nearly 60 years ago. Musk recently made news when he said "many" people will die on Mars, but no one imagined it would be in a lawless, PUBG-style low-gravity battle royale. Then again, Mars is named for the God of War.

More at link.

[Doug Loss]

If their Mars settlements are self-sufficient, how would this be a bad thing?  It sounds positively Revolutionary to me. 

[240B]

There are thousands, 10s of thousands, science fiction stories/movies about Mars revolting and eventually turning on Earth.
I have seen this all my life.

Elon Musk is not waiting for 'the revolution'. He is saying 'F**k Earth' right from the start. We are out of here! This is unique.
I have never read a sci-fi story with this plotline. Not saying there isn't a story like that out there, but I do not know of it.
It is certainly an unusual idea.