

Saudi files for 'killer' tracking chip patent - bsgamble
http://www.thelocal.de/sci-tech/20090515-19313.html

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bayareaguy
_the invention will probably be found to violate paragraph two of the German
Patent Law – which does not allow inventions that transgress public order or
good morals_

I didn't know German Patent Law worked this way. I wonder if this clause has
any actual effect. Is the actual manufacture and use of such inventions also
prohibited or does this just mean that nobody in Germany can have a monopoly
on such things?

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dhs
That paragraph lists exceptions to patentability - inventions that infringe on
"public order" or "moral conventions". In particular listed are human cloning,
methods to modify the human germline, industrial use of human embryos and
modification of animal germlines which cause suffering to the animals without
providing any medical benefits for animals or humans. So every invention that
can be used to breed a master race is explicitly non-patentable, plus there's
a blanket formulation that can be extended to mean "anything the Nazis would
have liked to have invented to make their job easier". An implant that poisons
you when you don't follow the Führer would arguably fit right in there.

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nop
I can imagine a non-lethal version of that could be pitched to prisons in the
future assuming it could be made to be reliable. No need for giant walls and
several layers of perimeter when you have a virtual walls to keep the inmates
from escaping.

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dmix
I'd imagine implanted chips are more easily removed then it is to get out of a
walled prison. Prisoners have devised clever ways to hide and remove things
from their body in the past.

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patrickg-zill
Reminds me of the Bruce Sterling novel, "Heavy Weather" where the bad guys
that work for the government have Rolex-like watches that have explosives in
them permanently clamped to their wrists.

In the novel, when a force 6 storm goes through, they hang out in a bunker and
one by one try to remove the watch/bomb so that they can then be free of
coercion and also, untrackable in the future.

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asciilifeform
There were at least two films which featured remote-controlled "bomb collars"
for prisoners.

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jbm
This will doubtlessly cost me Karma - but all too often it seems as if my
brothers are either living under tyranny or building implements that allow
others to be subject to the same humiliation.

On the bright side, Science marches on!... if it helps shore up the corrupt
local monarchies.

~~~
cvg
yeah, it's kind of scary. Fundamentalism (of any kind) and technology are a
harsh mixture.

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tptacek
You know, the Saudi nationality is in the lede here, but god knows how many
batshit crazy immoral ideas the USPTO has had to deal with over the years.

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abecedarius
Ethics besides, this patent as described is obvious to anyone who's read
decades-old science fiction, like Neal Stephenson's _The Diamond Age_ (though
he does use a more spectacular means than poison).

