The REAL obstacle to SPSS

>
> On 8/26/05, *Brian Dunbar* brian.dunbar@...
>
> The solution is hinted by my comment above - don't allow a
> government of
> any kind to operate the SPS but instead give it to a for-profit
> enterprise. Business guys won't let their expensive capital be used as
> a weapon - no profit in it.
>
> Please look up the history of the following for-profit enterprises.
> Each of them have engaged in heavy duty violence, up to and including
> invasion and genocide, for profit.
>
> East India Company

British or Dutch? I'll assume the former.

The British East India Company, sometimes referred to as "John Company",
was a joint-stock company of investors, which was granted a Royal
Charter by Elizabeth I on December 31, 1600, with the intent to favor
trade privileges in India.

From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_East_India_Company

> Association Internationale Africaine

The Association Internationale Africaine (French) was an organization
created by King Lopold II of Belgium for supposedly furthering
humanitarian projects in the area of Central Africa that was to become
the Congo Free State and subsequently today's Democratic Republic of the
Congo. From
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Association_Internationale_Africaine

> Union Pacific Railroad

The Union Pacific Railroad was incorporated on July 1, 1862 in the wake
of the Pacific Railroad Act of 1862. The first rails were laid in Omaha,
Nebraska. They were part of the railroads which came together at
Promontory Summit, Utah in 1869 as the first transcontinental railroad
in North America.

From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Union_Pacific_Railroad#History

>
> Your assertion that a corporation that operated a SPS would not engage
> in violence (or the threat of violence) because it would not be
> profitable rests upon the assumption that violence would not be
> profitable. I don't believe this is necessarily a valid assumption.

Where is the ROI in using a orbital weapon?

>
> Everything the company operating the SPS array does (or any vehicle in
> orbit) is open to inspection by anyone with a good telescope on the
> ground. This is your solution to the 'using X as a weapon' problem -
> shenanigans like this will be seen and corrective action taken.
>
> Against whom? By the time it's up there, it's too late.

File a court case in a friendly federal court against the company. The
country can seize the assets of the offending corporation. Without
money the company is not going to be finishing their weapon.

>
> I'll got a step further - any enterprise in the space access industry
> might be advised to open their internal business up to public
> inspection
> as far as they are legally allowed to. You can't do anything without a
> paper trail, and this would include shipping to, and operating an
> illegal laser cannon. If the public can see this happening, things can
> happen to prevent it.
>
> The technological history of Iraq indicates that this is an unlikely
> circumstance.

I do not understand the phrase 'technological history' in conjunction
with Iraq. Explain?

>
> No, I'm not so far gone as to imagine you'd find an invoice for "1)
> Acme
> X-Ray Laser" but the bits to assemble such would be visible if
> anyone is
> looking.
>
> Would they? I'm not convinced, and I don't think your average national
> leader would be either. We're talking about power (in the political
> sense) on a level unheard of in human history.

An army marches on it's stomach. A corporation slides along on
paperwork. If you're going to build a weapon there will be a paper
trail. If the paper trail is visible, it can be examined and many
eyeballs can ferret out the truth.

I'm still not convinced that merely having and operating 'stuff' in
orbit represents political power. Maybe you could expand on this?

Brian Dunbar
System Administrator
Liftport

brian.dunbar@...
aim: bdunbar1967

Remember.
But move forward, too. Light a candle, yes. But also drive a rivet.
~Lileks