[extropy-chat] Rapid prototyping makes police state more likely

[Jay Dugger]

Monday, 25 September 2006

[snip]
> If governments allow this, (Can they stop it?), I see life

Having worked in machine tools not too long ago, let me point out that
the ability to crank out firearms in basement workshops exists
nowadays and has for some time. The British Sten Gun and Bill Holmes'
books come to mind, but I Am Not A Gunsmith (IANAG). The scenario
exists now in some sense. AFAIK we've not seen an explosion in crime
driven by home-built guns.

While a sufficiently foolish state might ban advanced machine tools,
and a sufficiently aggressive state might enforce such a ban, that
same would soon find itself outclassed by less restrictive states. A
worldwide ban might come to pass, but even that doesn't affect motives
to push the very limits of the ban: economic advantage and military
self-sufficiency.

> developing
> into the same sort of ongoing arms race that Windows users currently
> face to keep viruses, spyware and spam out of their computers.  Except
> that we will be facing the real life (TM) attacks of disease viruses,
> mini attack devices, mini spy devices, tracking and eavesdropping of
> every variety, etc. etc. coming from every disgruntled group,  nutter
> and script kiddy.
>

This rather overstates the case, I think. The raw materials of
software, energy and bits, take little effort to get. Exotic materials
such as aerospace composites and fuels take a more effort. Simply
having an advanced home workshop doesn't mean any person, regardless
of motive, has access to the capital or to the knowledge to make
advanced hardware. What you describe, a very high level of nuisance
attacks combined with an ongoing hardware arms race, seems possible, I
do not expect to see backyard cruise missiles nor tanks.

As an aside, calling tele-operated aircraft an automated weapon
stretches the truth. Most of those I've read about have human pilots
on the ground. Close-In Weapon Systems such as Goalkeeper and Phalanx
better qualify as automated weapons. Humans give permission to fire,
and that's all, since meat reacts too slowly to defend against
anti-ship missiles.

-- 
Jay Dugger
YouTube inivitation bearing my name? I apologize.
http://hellofrom.blogspot.com/2006/09/steaming-hot-plate-of-crow.html