Lets say I’m a genius mad scientist. Tinkering around in my lair/mom’s basement, I happen upon a death ray capable of vaporizing armies. Lets then suppose that the US government got wind of this, but seeing as I had broken no laws, there is absolutely no justification for the police to come sieze my death ray.
If what lights my fire isnt money, but ideology, could I pack up my weapon and sell/give it to a non-rogue state? Of course I can’t give even so much as a pen-knife to North Korea or Al Qaeda, but does the law allow me to sell or give my weapon to Canada? How about China?
I assume that my first paragraph is a given, but I don’t actually know for sure if the US government has a law that allows them to sieze my super weapon. Do they?
That’s a good point. I forgot to mention something that just occured to me. I know that certain items, even if not technically weapons, have restrictions. Viruses, probably some chemicals, anything radioactive, drugs, etc. Lets again suppose that my death ray is made from common materials that are in no way on anyone’s warning list. But I am frank with the government when I say (and they believe me) that only I know how to combine them into a deadly weapon and I will give it to this other country.
As for the license, I know that with guns or even large amounts of money, you can eventually get the license. If I had this weapon and I am legally qualified to get the exporting license, will I be able to? This is discounting any illegal activities on the part of the government to block my obtaining the license.
Not all new weapons are a government monopoly. If you invent a new machine gun, the patient is yours.
But some classes of information are “born secret.” Developments in these areas are classified from the get-go although you can still own the patient privately.
As I understand it, if you patent something, how it works is out in the open. As a mad scientist, I dont want that. Assuming it doesn’t get stolen, I want to get it from the US to another country
there are secret or classified patents. The US patented the atomic bomb during WW II for instance. And as Paul said, some ideas are born secret-and the Gov’t gets to decide which. I am afraid you can’t export your death ray. Whether the Gov’t can legally prevent you from going on vacation to another country, I don’t know. But you had better not talk business while over there or the Gov’t will be on the lookout when you return.
What’s the purpose of patenting weapon systems like that? It’s not like the Russians or any other nation would drop their development of any weapon because it would infringe on some patent.
Can a private citizen patent something that the government cannot see? Since the government made the bomb and controls the patent office, I assume they can patent things like the bomb and keep its workings secret from the rest of us. I doubt I can do the same
Also, can you explain what you meant by me not talking business? What laws would I be breaking if I went on vacation but talked about selling the weapon? Is there really a law against my selling of the weapon if it doesn’t violate the normal laws on weapons?
When they talk about the idea being “born secret” they mean that as soon as the US government gets wind of it, they classify it as secret, or even higher. Which means that revealing the information to anyone else not authorized to receive it is a criminal act. Even if you developed the information, and even if the government didn’t pay you for it.
Gerry Bull developed a conventional artillery shell that could fly as far as the brand new rocket-assisted shells the US had just developed. The US military wouldn’t give him the time of day. He offered the technology to the Russians and by the grace of some merciful deity they passed him up as well. But when he developed deadly artillery for South Africa he got himself into some deep shit in the US. So I’d have to say the US doesn’t have a monopoly per se but they do get to decide who plays and who doesn’t.
Designs & ideas can also be export-controlled. Google [ITAR] for a lot more info. If I invent a computer program with certain characteristics, I can’t export it. You might recall a kerfuffle back in the 80s where somehow US submarine propeller designs got to the Russians via, IIRC, Toshiba. Not the props, just the design for them. Much angst & a huge fine ensued.
ITAR is the bane of the aerospace & very high tech industries. Essentailly, if something might somehow be useful to somebody evil to make their military better, then it can’t be exported to them without a license.
Theoretically, a better rubber for truck tires would not be exportable to Canada without a license which would evaluate how much better Canada’s army would be with this, and more worrisomely, how likely it is that the friendly-but-lax Canadians would let the secret slip out to agents from evil Lower Slobovia.
My software firm produces a very benign product used in the Public Safety (police + fire) industry. We have to ensure we comply with ITAR when exporting. So far, we’ve been OK by staying with safe sales like Canada. But the ITAR barrier is out there, and some day we’re going to come up against it need to spend $100K & 2 years trying to get a license to sell to Slobovia. Or else decide that that’s just too hard for us & let that particular sale go.
Wasnt he the guy who eventually worked/freelanced for Sadam who was most likely assasinated by the Israelis?
My understanding is that if you develop ANY high tech theory or technology or engineering that “we” dont want going to the “other” side…that there are plenty of both legal and illegal techniques that will be used to stop your selling…
We had a local guy get arrested for selling police equipment such as handcuffs and night sticks to some unapproved countries like Iran. He could have gone to prison but he got probation instead.
If I recall correctly, you can get around this by classifying the parts and pieces as “machine assemblies” and not a finished product. Case in point: there was a Bourgault farm implement factory in Minot, ND–about an hour south of the Canadian border. Since tariff/trade restrictions wouldn’t allow complete, functional pieces of farm machinery to be imported into the states (to protect International Harvester, John Deere, etc.), Bourgault imported “machinery assemblies”–i.e. subassemblies of the air seeder frame, engine, cab, power train, etc., and they were then fully assembled into the finished product in the U.S.
So, if you could break down your death ray into, say, an “optical collumator”, “electrical power source”, “machine frame/assembly”, and “electronics assembly”, you could ship four separate crates to your hidden lair without the license or red tape of a “Ray, Death (Red) - QTY 1 (One).” Then it’s just a matter of hiring dependable goons and henchmen to complete the work (making sure, of course, not to let the reassembly plans slip into the hands of the Rebels, or something).
Tripler
. . . because there’s nothing scarier than Imperial Stormtroopers hayraking the back forty on a John Deere.
I just recalled that where I work people who are not US citizens are not even allowed to look at certain things, let alone buy them. Because of this we just got new name badges which have a US flag on them for citizens. BTW, we don’t make any military equipment, we just do software.
The very same. However, I’m a fan of Frederick Forsythe’s theory on his assassination myself: the Iraqis killed him to prevent him from talking about things he had built for them. Forsythe makes a pretty compelling case that it was not the Israelis who did it as Bull was much more valuable to them as an intelligence source, amongst other reasons.
Without the proper license you cant sell that weapon domestically let alone to a foreign power, so yes, the US does control its munitions exports.
You dont have a right to sell weapons. Its a privilege. You will need to apply for DoD approval to sell. This may or may not involve an approval from congress as all foreign sales go through a notification period with one of the defense subcommittees in congress.