Party game Cards Against Humanity is declaring a small legal win against SpaceX after suing to boot the company from a plot of land for trespassing.
On Monday, Cards Against Humanity sent an email to customers, updating them about the lawsuit, which alleged that SpaceX had illegally encroached on a plot of land it acquired on the Texas-Mexico border, originally to protest President Trump’s border wall.
(Credit: Cards Against Humanity)
In the email, Cards Against Humanity said SpaceX CEO “Elon Musk’s team admitted on the record that they illegally trespassed” on the piece of land, which the party game company bought in 2017 using funds raised from customers. “Then they packed up the space garbage and fucked off.”
However, it appears that Cards Against Humanity fell short in securing $15 million in damages from SpaceX to help restore the property. Musk “did the legal equivalent of throwing dust in our eyes and kicking us in the balls,” the email notes. The court website also shows that the two companies reached a settlement ahead of a trial scheduled for next month.
“A trial would have cost more than what we were likely to win from SpaceX,” Cards Against Humanity tells PCMag. “Under Texas law, even if we had won at trial (and we would have, given their admission to trespassing), we likely wouldn’t have been able to recoup our legal fees. And SpaceX certainly seemed ready to dramatically outspend us on lawyers.”
Still, during the lawsuit’s discovery phase, SpaceX admitted to never having received or asked permission to use the land, according to Ars Technica, citing a court document. Cards Against Humanity also tells us: “The upside is that SpaceX has removed their construction equipment from our land and we’re able to work with a local landscaping company to restore the land to its natural state: devoid of space garbage and pointless border walls.”
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(Credit: Cards Against Humanity)
Cards Against Humanity filed the lawsuit a year ago after finding tractors, piles of building materials, and construction work from SpaceX on the land, which had previously been vacant except for green grass. SpaceX didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. However, the company has a growing presence on the Texas-Mexico border, where it has been conducting Starship launches with the goal of sending humans to Mars. Still, that rocket activity has also faced complaints from environmental groups and the Mexican government.
Cards Against Humanity originally hoped to use the net proceeds from the lawsuit to compensate users who contributed to the original land purchase. However, according to the company’s email, the settlement includes plans to reward subscribers with a free “mini-pack of exclusive cards” that aims to poke fun at Musk.
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Michael Kan
Senior Reporter
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I’ve been a journalist for over 15 years. I got my start as a schools and cities reporter in Kansas City and joined PCMag in 2017, where I cover satellite internet services, cybersecurity, PC hardware, and more. I’m currently based in San Francisco, but previously spent over five years in China, covering the country’s technology sector.
Since 2020, I’ve covered the launch and explosive growth of SpaceX’s Starlink satellite internet service, writing 600+ stories on availability and feature launches, but also the regulatory battles over the expansion of satellite constellations, fights with rival providers like AST SpaceMobile and Amazon, and the effort to expand into satellite-based mobile service. I’ve combed through FCC filings for the latest news and driven to remote corners of California to test Starlink’s cellular service.
I also cover cyber threats, from ransomware gangs to the emergence of AI-based malware. Earlier this year, the FTC forced Avast to pay consumers $16.5 million for secretly harvesting and selling their personal information to third-party clients, as revealed in my joint investigation with Motherboard.
I also cover the PC graphics card market. Pandemic-era shortages led me to camp out in front of a Best Buy to get an RTX 3000. I’m now following how President Trump’s tariffs will affect the industry. I’m always eager to learn more, so please jump in the comments with feedback and send me tips.
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