Russian stakes claim on clouds
A Russian lawyer has staked a claim on all the world's clouds.
Vladimir Osipiv is using the same law that allowed an American man to claim the moon.
He is hoping the clouds will be snapped by environmentalists who will then take legal action against governments that allow clouds to be polluted.
He said: "The owner of the damaged clouds will be able to seek punitive damages from polluters."
American Dennis Hope who claimed the moon in 1980 has since sold plots of land there to more than two million people.
Osipev, 48, from Yeisk in Russia's Krasnodar region, said: "The conquerors of the Wild West used the same principle, when they pronounced their ownership of the land.
"It is probably incomprehensible for the vast majority of people that clouds can be privatised. However, I am absolutely sure that I will get support both in Russia and in the international community."
A legal claim to the clouds of the world has now been posted in 150 countries, reports Russian media.
That has got to one of the stupidest things I have ever heard.
