Why didn't Janeway use the invasive program against the Borg?

[AlboOfBorg]

Why didn't Janeway use the invasive program that was developed by LaForge and Data in the TNG episode "I, Borg?" Nechayev ordered Picard to use it if the opportunity presented itself again in the future, so it's safe to assume that Starfleet didn't disapprove using it and stood by Nechayev's decision. You'd think there would be a standing order to use this program at the earliest possible convenience by any ship captain and its crew if Starfleet disagreed with Picard's stand that the program amounted to genocide. I doubt a matter of this magnitude would be left to a Starfleet Captain to use at their discretion...

 

[Michael]

I don't remember I, Borg very well. But I'd guess they erased the program so that no-one could use it. That would be the easy answer.

 

[erastus25]

I always figured the Borg learned of the program after assimilating some starfleet personnel/ships. Maybe in First Contact?

 

[Sector 7]

...and knowledge is power!

 

[BigC]

Because then the show would have been ten minutes long. I can think of several episodes that would be considerably shortened were I captain.

 

[Cyke101]

Janeway's goal was simply to escape the Borg, but never outright destroy them (at least, not until Endgame, apparently). She had qualms over the Queen blowing up her own cubes, and the invasive program would have probably spread throughout the entire Collective, making it too brutal.

 

[startrekwatcher]

Funny you mention it because I remember when I first watched Scorpion 11 years ago. I always wondered why she didn't mention the program. Obviously the writers probably didn't want to throw in an element from another series some in the audience might not have been familiar with but I also thought you had to have a disconnected drone like Hugh where you could download the program into then send back.

You'd think there would be a standing order to use this program at the earliest possible convenience by any ship captain and its crew if Starfleet disagreed with Picard's stand that the program amounted to genocide. I doubt a matter of this magnitude would be left to a Starfleet Captain to use at their discretion...

Yeah and in "Unimatrix Zero" it was odd that Janeway mentioned that Starfleet might look down her for getting involved in a Borg civil war when as you say it would probably be a standing order for a captain to do what they could to bring down the Collective.

 

[Lt. Trull]

It would have never worked... that program was developed before they knew about the borg queen.... that program would only go so far before the queen said... Stop... and they would have all stopped thinking about the problem the program created...

 

[Anwar]

The program never would have worked. At best all it would have done is mess up Hugh's Cube and only his Cube, just like how his sense of individuality made the Collective disconnect his Cube from the rest.

 

[Hermiod]

Because then the show would have been ten minutes long. I can think of several episodes that would be considerably shortened were I captain.

Like "Maneuvers" - fire back you stupid woman! Surely they could have blown that pod up with one shot!

 

[Triskelion]

I never understood how Hugh's sense of individuality would be any threat whatsoever to the Collective. Didn't they assimilate thousands of "individuals", including Captain Picard, who held onto their identities with every ounce of strength they had? Why would Hugh be any different? Furthermore, they would surely recognize a threat and pull the plug on those affected Borg before the "individuality" spread too far - just as they would dispassionately deactivate any drone who exhibited an untreatable dysfunction (I believe Seven gave an example of this).

 

[Anwar]

Hugh apparently wasn't like assimilated Borg, he was a born Borg who had never been an individual in his life. I guess that was what made the difference. He wasn't an assimilated person regaining his lost individuality, he had become an individual for the first time.