Quote:[b]HRogge wrote:[/b]The matter has not turned up yet, but, for the record, I will set the Spanish position, unless someone complains: they have the same rights as any other human.
I wonder which stance the European states will take about AIs... deciding that AIs are people might be a definite turning point for any country on Earth, but it also gives Earth the helpers to untangle the economic knots that made the whole financial crash so severe.
As a longer explanation: Genesis C&D refuses to trade with any nation that does not grant rights to AI or biomods. As the owner is spanish, and he wanted to hire thousands of unemployed construction workers after the spanish construction bubble exploded, this position mattered to spanish politicians.
While Oscar was not gathering blackmail materials (because that is wrong and illegal, and no one will be able to prove otherwise) on several relaevant politicians, the optimistic nature of the setting came through, is was time for the elections, someone decided to use the "full rights" as a stance to get extra votes, and the rest of the main parties went with it to avoid losing their own votes; Oscar was happy and stopped his attempts to get blackmail (honest).
The first law that passed the wining party was a equal rights, and full nationality for Bernie (the eldest of Vykos' AI children, and the only one to awaken in Spain). There may have been conservative parties against it, but the experts in Public Relations of the Hellfire Club released to the press touristic brochures to Marduk than stubbly emphasized the churches and cathedrals under construction, so the moderate conservatives did not grumble too much -a new market to trade with, less unemployed workers, and it seems not all of then are those godless leftists. Good enough to pretend neutrality, even if you think otherwise. (the brochures may have not mentioned minor matters like Oscar himself not being able to remember the last time he actually went to a Mass...)
From Warrigner's stories we know that Germany has no (legal) problems for biomods, as his company is actually a German one, not a Fenspace company with german owners. Europe is a liberal continent, as a rule. While inmediate equality is not likely, legau discrimination of AIs and biomods after it is known they are people would be quite out of character. Even the more radical anti-immigrant politicians in Europe do not suggest to pass discrimination laws to make, say, Argelians second class citizens (they "only" want then gone, the gits)