Skip to the card

Card 117 of 9982026-09-04 issue

Observed arrival · 2026-09-04

Buy the Earth, one owner at a time

buythe.earth Observed source
Editorial interest 88/100 Selection signal · not a rating of the site

A participatory web artwork lets one person at a time buy the site's “Owner of the Earth” position, then be outbid by the next owner for at least $2 more.

Landing page captured for the 2026-09-04 issue.

Field notes

The project turns a familiar domain name into a single public position that can be claimed, displaced, and claimed again. Each owner receives a permanent number, while the homepage can display a name, an 80-character message, and a link. The site states that each takeover must exceed the previous payment by $2 and that 51% of every dollar goes to the Earth; the extract shows the checkout interface but no completed ownership history.

Observed signals

Read the marks

Editorial observations of this landing page, not a rating.

OpenPublic substance visible
$PaidCommerce or pricing visible
PrettyNotable craft visible
ProPolished or operationally mature
NicheUnusually specific use
HumanPersonal, local, civic, or handmade
ƒJavaScriptBrowser-side code central

One card from the complete issue

An Octave Below the Spacecraft

377,806 arrived 1,000 judged 998 catalogued Enter the complete issue
buythe.earth

Landing page observed 2026-09-04. The live site may have changed.