Sun-Owning Lady Sues eBay Because They Wouldn't Let Her Sell 'Plots' Of 'Land' On 'Her' Sun

from the 40-acres-and-a-tan dept

Techdirt readers with a good memory may recall that back in 2010 a Spanish woman with entirely too much time on her hands claimed to have found a legal loophole that allowed her to register her ownership of the sun. Yes, the sun. You know, Sol, that star that allows us to exist, and it apparently fell into the hands of Maria Angeles Duran. The law had been constructed to prevent any nations from declaring ownership of planets or stars -- but not individuals. Maria laid her claim by registering it and announced plans to charge us lowly citizens of the Earth for all beneficial uses of "her" sun.

Well, she presumably was told by someone with a couple of brain cells to rub together that the world wasn't going to let that kind of Dr. Evil shit go on, because she instead decided to monetize her "ownership" of the sun on -- wait for it -- eBay! Yes, via the internet marketplace, Duran was selling "plots" of "land" on "her" sun, all the way up until eBay caught wind and shut the whole thing down. And now Duran is taking eBay to court over all of this, a court which ostensibly falls under the watchful eye of her property's rays.

A magistrate's court in Madrid has declared that Maria Angeles Duran, from Vigo in Spain's northwestern region of Galicia, has the right to take eBay to court after it blocked her account which was selling plots of land on the sun at a price €1 (73p) per metre square. In 2013, Duran began selling plots of the sun at a price of €1 per square metre on eBay in Italy and Spain with the promise "buy new object, unused, unopened, undamaged. Shipping is free" - and in return buyers received a diploma of acquisition.

According to Duran, she received 600 orders worth €1,200 but some customers were left disappointed by the closure of the page; eBay closed the page because the item on sale could not be touched or transported and it believed it to be a scam.

Which is exactly what it is, of course. Duran doesn't actually have an ownership claim on the sun simply because she registered it in her name. Nor does she have any land-rights for a star that doesn't have anything resembling land, so there's nothing to suggest that selling these plots is anything other than a silly attempt to pilfer from the likewise misinformed buyers. And, make no mistake, every action taken by Duran is that of someone simply looking to grab at cash.

Duran filed a suit against eBay in 2014 for breach of contract, and claimed €10,000 in compensation. The ecommerce giant tried to settle the claim out of court, but Duran complained that the pact was "blind" because she didn't know how much money was she going to get.

All this in a settlement offer for not allowing her to sell plots of land on the sun, mind you. I'll give Duran this: it's nice to see a non-American go all crazy-litigious for once. I guess it's time we updated that whole "I have a bridge to sell you..." joke.

Filed Under: lawsuits, maria angeles duran, ownership, sun
Companies: ebay

DailyDirt: Exploring Our Solar System

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

Our solar system is a pretty big place, and we haven't really seen that much of it. But as we send out more and more probes and get fancier telescopes, we're learning about a ton of interesting phenomena that occur beyond our own planet. Here are just a few fascinating factoids and links on how we're exploring space without sending astronauts anywhere (yet).

• While the Earth and other rocky objects in our solar systems aren't perfectly round, our Sun is remarkably spherical... almost too spherical. The Sun isn't perfectly spherical, but it's actually one of the roundest objects humans have ever measured, and it's a bit puzzling why it should be so round. [url]
• NASA's Cassini spacecraft has discovered that Saturn's moon Titan could hold bodies of liquid water under its crust. This could mean there's yet another place in our solar system with water that could possibly sustain life. [url]
• A geochronometer is an instrument that could help determine how old various things in our solar system are. Portable geochronometers could be sent to other planets (like Mars) to improve our estimates of how long it takes for certain planetary features to develop. [url]

If you'd like to read more awesome and interesting stuff, check out this unrelated (but not entirely random!) Techdirt post.

Filed Under: astronomy, cassini, geochronometer, mars, saturn, solar system, space, sun, titan, water
Companies: nasa

Woman Claims Legal Loophole Means She Now Owns The Sun... And She Wants You To Pay Up

from the this-is-why-i-only-go-out-at-night dept

Xyro TR1 alerts us to the rather amusing article concerning a Spanish woman who claims to have figured out a loophole in the law that allowed her to register her ownership of the Sun -- for which she now claims she will demand payment from anyone making use of the Sun's rays. Apparently, the law says that countries cannot claim ownership of various planets or stars -- but says nothing of individuals, which means a few people now think that by simply registering an ownership claim, they get it. This, obviously, is not even close to true, but I do like the woman's quote:

There was no snag, I backed my claim legally, I am not stupid, I know the law.

'I did it but anyone else could have done it, it simply occurred to me first.'

She claims that she'll use any fees she collects for various useful tasks -- giving much of it to the government (?!?) and using another chunk to fighting world hunger. She'll merely keep 10% for herself. Of course, 10% of nothing is nothing, which is pretty much about what she should expect to make.

Filed Under: ownership, spain, sun