Developing Open Source Defense Projects 388
An anonymous reader writes "I'm a developer looking to develop an open source surface-to-air missile guidance system, with the aim of helping developing nations develop low-cost missile defense systems to aid them against attack by the warplanes of invading forces. However, given the very nature of the project, I feel I may be walking into a bit of a minefield regarding the legalities of such a project, since, as I'm sure you can imagine, this project could easily benefit hostile nations was well as relatively peaceful ones! Unfortunately, since Google does not seem to shed much light on the subject, I'd be very interested in hearing Slashdot's views on the matter, especially some advice from those in the know about the legal matters - whether there would be any restrictions (exports, perhaps?) or whether it would be simply plain illegal to develop!"
Re:No, think of the horrible consequences! (Score:3, Interesting)
The Protoss guns ARE already capable of hitting ground-and-air targets...
Actually, IIRC if you look carefully at the box-cover picture of the original release of Starcraft, you can see that the terran tanks *could* hit air targets as well, instead of only ground-only, which must have really messed up the game balance
Re:What's wrong with missile command? (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Excellent Question (Score:5, Interesting)
the internet is knee deep in instructions on how to build and h-bomb [subterrane.com].
Ever heard of the Gerald Bull Supercanon project? (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Just the opposite (Score:4, Interesting)
Reminds me of David Brent's [The Office, BBC] recruitment policy: bin half the CVs (resumes) - that way you only employ lucky people ;)
You're pretty much guarenteed that you'll only have lucky beta-testers at the end of the process...
Your product will be ready for release when you run out of beta testers.
On the other hand...
get a permit first (Score:3, Interesting)