Lets suppose the ubiquitous spatial rift/wormhole opens up roundabouts the territory of the United Federation of Planets, and out pops the Millenium Falcon.
Skywalker and company discover technology like transporters, replicators, and a drive which, although much slower than hyperdrive, allowd for maneuvers in supra-light velocities AND is not vulnerable to artificial gravity wells.
Seeking a Federation/Starfleet representative, offers to trade a spare Hyperdrive engine for transporter/replicator tech. Unfortunately, the Representative realizes that would introduce unknown tech to an alien culture…a violation of ther Prime Directive.
Would Starfleet/UFP simply allow Skywalker and Co. to take their business elsewhere…like the Ferengis…or compell them to go back to where they came from empty-handed?
Well I think the cutoff was that you couldn’t interfere with pre-warp civilizations (i.e., civilizations without the technology to leave their solar system and contact other races). So while Han Solo may not have a warp drive, I don’t think it would violate the spirit of the law.
The Prime Directive only applies to pre-Warp cultures. In Star Trek, that’s equivalent to a culture without the scientific knowhow to exceed the speed of light. Just because Star Wars doesn’t call their FTL drive “Warp” doesn’t mean it’s not the same idea. So there would be no Prime Directive violation.
Actually, I think it also deals with technological and cultural contamination of cultures not on the same level as the UFP. I can’t think of any specific cites but I seem to remember that if a culture’s at Pre-Enterprise warp level, there’s still some restrictions on them… i.e. you can’t equip them with quantum torps, phase cloaking devices, and so on. They’re still not advanced enough.
I could be wrong though. It’s happened once or twice.
haha, simul-post, simul-location. Jeez, I’m also 22, male, and registered SDMB since 1999. Let’s make sure we don’t do this again, Achernar, or else the mods might think we’re the same person, and you know what that means . . .
Aesiron: I think the UFP may have a general policy like you say, but it’s not The Prime Directive. As such, they may be willing to violate it for certain good reasons. Commercial trade probably wouldn’t be one, though.
Daniel: Don’t worry. I don’t think we’re the same person.
The article goes on to discuss various violations of and references to the Prime Directive. It looks likeDaniel, Aesiron and Achernor are all right to some degree. The main issue would be whether or not trading with Skywalker and Co. is considered to be “interfering in the normal development of any society.” AFAIK there was never any mention of FTL travel in ST that was not dependant on warp drive, but I would think that any non-warp-based FTL would still qualify as proof that a civilization had achieved the appropriate “level” to permit trade.
Yeah, I don’t see how trade can be considered abnormal. The FTL thing, I guess, is a rough guideline, though. What if life had developed on Mars, and we’d been communicating with them for the past 200 years, but they hadn’t quite gotten Warp down yet. Then when we adopt the Prime Directive, we have to stop talking to them and pretend we don’t exist until they figure it out?
It’s obviously not all that stringently enforced before and during TOS. How many primitive planets did Kirk decide he was going to “save”, for instance?
I can’t even come close to answering your question. But I can say that I would enjoy beyond measure watching Darth Vader & his minions rip the Federation asunder and enslave the entire Star Trek galaxy.
Star Wars ships can cross the entire galaxy in less than a day, so obviously hyperdrive technology is many orders of magnitude better than warp drive technology, or even the new “trans-warp” drives. I’d say no Prime Directive problem.
TNG also ignored it. This was because a couple of little-known footnotes:
[quote]
Prime Directive. Also known as Starfleet General Order #1, The Prime Directive prohibits Starfleet personnel and spacecraft from interfering in the normal development of any society*, and mandates that any Starfleet vessel or crew member is expendable to prevent violation of this rule.**
