re vandalizing the sky rbunge access digex net robert bunge writes in article c agi mju news cso uiuc edu jbh uxa cso uiuc edu josh hopkins writes i m wondering if vandalize is the proper word to use in this situation my dictionary defines vandalism as the willful or malicious destructuion of public or private property especially of anything beautiful or artisitc i would agree the sky is beautiful but not that it is public or private property it s public because it belongs to everybody no the sky does not at this time belong to anyone ownership is necessary to the definition because someone has to have the authority to decide if the action was good or bad if neither you or i own a brick wall then i can t unilaterally declare that spraypainting my name on it is right and you don t have the authority to declare that it is wrong the owner may find it artistic or she may be call the police this applies to the argument on bright satellites more than street lights it s vandalism because many people power companies do maliciously waste light maliciously implies evil intent the lighting companies aren t going out of their way to spoil the sky they just don t care if they can sell you or your city or your state an unshielded light that wastes to percent of its light they make more money never mind that your money is wasted it is the responsibility of the customer to choose the most efficient hardware if that s what your city will buy that s what the lighting company will sell write a letter to city hall please note that i m not defending light pollution the orignial focus of this thread was space based light sources josh hopkins jbh uxa cso uiuc edu find a way or make one attributed to hannibal
