The article said that the payment was for a star system, not a starship.
I'm not an EVE player and don't know much about how it works, but I'm guessing that it's something like a starship is your personal property, but a star system is considered "community" property. Hence, you have to pay tax for "sovereignty", or exclusive rights, to a system.
I'm not an EVE player and don't know much about how it works, but I'm guessing that it's something like a starship is your personal property, but a star system is considered "community" property. Hence, you have to pay tax for "sovereignty", or exclusive rights, to a system.