Tinfect wrote:"To begin, Ambassador," said Markhov, looking briefly over a mysterious printed copy of the latest ICNN broadcast, "What, exactly, constitutes an 'exoplanet'? Indeed, the definition on the subject appears to be tied to 'the' solar system; I am certain you are aware that many countless solar systems exist, thus I can only assume that you quite presumptuously refer to your own. Quite simply, Ambassador, New Harron, is not an exoplanet - it is the homeworld of the Imperium. Further, the Imperium rejects the use of such obsolete terminology on principle."
With that, Markhov folded the newspaper and began to use it as an unnecessarily dramatic pointer.
"In any case, the Imperium finds these classifications arbitrary and insufficient. As example, this Class 'ell''. A great variety of planets may support liquid water and advanced species; these worlds may have very little else in common, great variations in atmosphere or gravity or primary surface materials - really, this is quite basic information, I would highly suggest comparing your Government's educational system with that of the Imperium.
Further, the categorization of mass is... rather lacking. The primary concern of the Imperium is the titles of each category; they appear rather arbitrary, perhaps culturally bound. The Imperium, of course, objects to the codification of foreign terms in World Assembly Law.
Additionally, the expansion of the mandate of the International Aero-Space Administration to include the prevention of... I believe the term used in the draft is, 'contamination'? How is this to be defined? Colonization efforts? Research expeditions? Deployment of technological methods of altering a planet's atmospheric state and soil chemistry - terraforming?"
He paused, briefly finding something worrying on the newspaper he was waving about.
"Yes... the, Interstellar Committee for Existing Planetary Territory Submissions; or, 'intercepts'. The Imperium objects to such a tortured attempt at an acronym on sheer principle. The Imperium has no desire for a 'third party' in any territorial disputes; the Imperial Diplomatic Oversight, or Military Oversight, as appropriate, is fully capable of handling such matters without the interference of additional foreign agents. Further, the Imperium will absolutely not permit a foreign entity to maintain record of the Interior Territories - such a 'starmap' would be a breach of security of the highest order, leaving the Imperial citizenry and the Imperium vulnerable to attacks by hostile civilizations. Nor will the Imperium submit any manifest of our territories to an unwanted foreign operation for such a violation.
Anomalous activities within the Imperial Territories are the sole exclusive jurisdiction of Imperial Intelligence - we will not provide any information on unknown situations to a foreign entity so long as such remains in the purview of information security. And, finally, the Imperium will not provide a registry of our military fleets, government vessels, or civilian craft, to a foreign entity, for the safety of the Imperium and its citizens. I must note, however, that this the clause this concern arises in may be interpreted as prohibiting the existence of Military spacecraft. This is, simply put, Ambassador, an act of war against the Imperium, were it genuinely attempted.
Finally, I will note that the Imperium will not, under any circumstances, allow foreigners or foreign craft to enter our territories. Our borders are closed violations of them will be considered acts of war themselves, or terrorist acts, as deemed appropriate.
In short; the Imperium is entirely opposed. Not only is there minimal need for this legislation, but it is quite a poor draft indeed."
"Clearly, Ambassador, you have not read my draft in full detail. The term "exoplanet" is not present in the given definitions. Furthermore, I have Class "L" to be rather vague for the exact reasons you are worried about. You consistently imply that we based the definitions and measurements off of our solar system; however, as you can see, the reason why I put "liquid water and complex life" is because the wide variety of different kinds of planets constitutes for complex life to evolve in different ways.
"I recognize your concern with the titles of mass categories; I will be changing it to meet your criteria. I also see that the definition for "contamination" is rather vague. I will also be changing that to specify.
"Furthermore, the points you were "worried about" are only encouraged. You are not required to submit a detailed starmap of the planets within your borders; if it does say that, I will change it to make it not so. The third party is only encouraged, as well. Hopefully, we can find a middle ground."
), and on top of that there are over 20k WA nations with trillions of combined population. There's no way for them all to 1. exist on the same planet, or 2. exist in the same universe. And what's to stop a nation that hasn't invented even orbital space flight from just claiming the rest of the galaxy as their territory?
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