The existing Space treaty makes it clear that no one country (or person?) can have sole rights to 'extraterrestrial' property, but it is very weak on mining operations. You can apparently mine the water with no restrictions (and perhaps other items on a controlled basis) but not own the ground your mining operation is on. Sounds like mining on national forest land, it is done all the time and there are already all kinds of rules on how to do it in the first place.
Speaking of the wild west, the first resource on the moon to be extracted will probably be water. I don't think there was anything valuable in the moon rocks, probably nothing would be easy to get to, except for the water which could be used instantly and is already easy to get at.
The first stop over point is low orbit around the earth, nothing there except what you bring with you. The next point is the moon, the filling station or rest area on the way to mars and the asteroid mining. I think water could also be brought back from the moon to the low earth orbits cheaper than blasting off of earth with a payload of water.
While the Antarctic treaty and other such treaties talk about mining and other commodity driven operations they probably don't say anything about water rights or use because it is everywhere in the Antarctic region. Unless some one proposed melting all the ice for use as fresh water on the other continents I don't think anyone would care if you melt ice in the Antarctic regions.
Water on the moon would probably be considered something that you would just use, like the air on earth. The question would be, how much could you have on hand before it becomes a problem. If a company made a reservoir big enough for everyone on the moon, they might not be allowed to keep it private. But if your water reservoirs were more fitting for the size of a company's operations, then they could keep the water to themselves, except in extreme emergencies. Not because they have to but because they might expect the same from their neighbors.
I don't know about using water as a fuel, I think that is a poor idea no matter where you are, unless it is a closed system. Maybe in an emergency it would be ok for short term use.
