Synth ban

[Timo]

OTOH, the argument wasn't about machine vs. biological. Data being declared an elephant would result in him being ceded to Maddox, too. So Picard wasn't exactly helping, either.

We still don't know

a) why Synths were really banned - a panicky half-measure to placate the crowds, or an efficient way to snub a machine uprising of a specific sort?
b) what form the banning took - just dismantling of known assets and withdrawing of licenses to build more, or an intense hunt after things suspected of being Synth in nature?
c) what about the Synths was considered objectionable - blood (oil?) relations to mass murderers, nature of thought patterns, origin and history, technical specs?

Some answers to those would mean the Federation would have to shut down the Quantum Archives and the planetary commnet. Others would mean that building machine men with blue or green rather than golden faces would be fine. We're apparently observing something in between here, and waiting for more specs.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Guy Gardener]

We know that it was a hack.

Does Starfleet think that it was a Photons Be Free situation?

 

[Tim Thomason]

We know that it was a hack.

Does Starfleet think that it was a Photons Be Free situation?

Starfleet ain't stupid. It was a coordinated attack, with I suspect no belligerence or agitation beforehand. Everyone and their cousin will assume that the androids were hacked. It looks like the synths killed themselves, but I suspect that the ban was knee-jerk and then Daystrom and SI (and Maddox) were tasked with figuring out what happened.

The Romulans (or Maddox or Oh or Worf) were probably careful in their cover-up and no trace could possibly be made to them. Either Starfleet figured it out, but have no means presently of preventing it from occurring again, or they haven't and are officially biding their time waiting for someone to show their hand.