[meteorite-list] International Laws related to meteorites link - good info

[MikeG]

Hi Gang,

Some thoughts from the peanut gallery :

UNESCO does not apply to meteorites.

The British mandate/order in regards to Indian meteorites is over 120
years old and India is not longer a territory of the British crown.

The late great O. Richard Norton was not a legal expert.

Laws (and more importantly, their enforcement) vary from nation to
nation, and from state to state within those nations.

Without input from a legal expert fluent in international law, we are
engaging in speculation and conjecture for the purpose of ethical
posturing and mud-slinging.

When one has a question about a law in a given state or nation, a good
place to start inquiring is with a resident of that nation or state.

Are there any members of this List or the IMCA who are residents of
India?  If so, let us ask them what the laws are and go from there.

Are copies of the relevant laws or regulations available online?  If
so, can someone provide a link to these online resources?

Meteorites involve a lot of grey areas - legally and ethically.  Solid
authoritative information on these laws is sorely lacking.

Example - most of the Canyon Diablo specimens for sale are illegal.
We know this because the laws here in the USA are easily found online,
in local libraries, or by asking a local resident or official.  The
entire CD strewnfield is on private property or state of Arizona land
that is leased to private owners.  The owners or caretakers of these
properties have made it known that prospecting for CD meteorites is an
exercise in trespassing and theft.  This is easily established.  If
people on this List want to start pointing fingers and making
allegations, please start in an area where the laws (and their
interpretation and enforcement) can be clearly referenced in an
objective manner.

Canadian and Australian laws in regards to meteorites are clearly
known.  There is no debate there.  Ask a Canadian or Australian
citizen.  On the issue of Indian, Argentine, Algerian, or Omani
meteorites, let us follow the same example - ask a citizen of the
nation in question and go from there.

The IMCA (or anyone else) cannot determine if a given meteorite
specimen is legal, unless the history of that specific specimen is
documented and the laws pertaining to that specimen are clearly known.
 An electron microprobe cannot determine *when* a meteorite was
recovered.  Was a Canyon Diablo meteorite recovered before it was
illegal to do so?  Who knows?  This is a textbook definition of a grey
area, and many other meteorites from other nations fall into the same
category - Campo del Cielo, NWA 869, and a host of others.  Until such
a time when the date of recovery (and circumstances) can be
objectively determined, we can only rely on the word and reputation of
the seller or owner.

What we are seeing in this public "debate" on legality is a lot of
speculation and posturing, without any substance or authoritative
knowledge.  This mud-slinging contest is not doing the meteorite
community any good - it makes us all look like a bunch of petty
blowhards.

One last comment - meteorites are a product of the cosmos.  They have
existed for billions of years before man crawled out of the primordial
ooze and they will exist for billions of years after we people turn to
dust.  We are their temporary caretakers for an eye-blink of the
galactic time scale.  It is the height of arrogance for any man or
nation to think they have exclusive legal rights over a product of the
cosmos.  What is a law?  It was once legal in the USA to own another
human being as a slave.  Just because it was legal does not mean it
was right.  Laws can be wrong.  Human beings can be wrong.  As a
collector or dealer of meteorites, the best thing one can do is to
follow one's conscience.  When holding a meteorite in hand, ask
yourself - is science being harmed by this action?  If not, then enjoy
that meteorite.

Best regards,

MikeG

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