J'accuse International Star Registry

While Kid Various’ post on the International Star Registry is pretty funny, it reminded me that I hate the assholes at the ISR. Where does this hatred come from you ask? They call me Mr. Surly for a reason, so let me tell you. What I love about the International Star Registry is that the only thing the Registry folks are selling to all the suckers out there is the inclusion of a chosen star name and its location in a book "to be filed with the U.S. Copyright Office." Ooooooohh! What a bunch of crap. It's like charging someone $20 bucks to change the name of New York City to Funkytown and saying it's an official name change because the map of Funkytown has been copyrighted. In reality, you are twenty bucks lighter and have a useless map. The last time I checked, the U.S. Copyright Office was not responsible for naming stars. The people behind ISR are full of shit. In fact, if you go to the website for the U.S. Copyright Office they tell pretty much tell you this in a FAQ:

Can I get a star named after me and claim copyright to it?

No. There is a lot misunderstanding about this. Names are not protected by copyright. Publishers of publications such as a star registry may register a claim to copyright in the text of the volume [or book] containing the names the registry has assigned to stars, and perhaps the compilation of data; but such a registration would not extend protection to any of the individual star names appearing therein.

The ISR is just looking to liberate money from poor suckers who want to immortalize their girlfriends, mothers, dogs, what have you, by naming a star after them. However, anyone who pays the ISR and thinks they are buying naming rights to a star is being taken for a ride. I hate the International Star Registry, it's such a friggin’ scam.