Theory: Thinking about the future

It may be unusual in modern America, but sometimes it is useful to think ahead, to consider hypothetical futures that might just happen. I commend to you the blog Law and the Multiverse: Superheroes, supervillains, and the law. You can read reviews of this blog on the New York Times web site and on Above the Law. I enjoy it, and as Ilya Somin (George Mason) points out in the NYT article:

“Over the next several decades we’re going to see technology and powers emerge that today only exist in science fiction and comic books,” he said, citing Arthur C. Clarke’s famous saying that “any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.”

“It may be reasonable to ask,” Professor Somin said, “how should the law treat those kinds of issues when they emerge?”

And how does this blog help us teach administrative law? Today's post is "'Gadget' Superheroes and Federal Arms Control Laws":

At least two major superheroes, Batman and Ironman, are the alter egos of billionaire “industrialists,” Bruce Wayne and Tony Stark respectively. Both are the at least titular heads of their respective corporate empires, Wayne Enterprises and Stark Industries. Both are major defense contractors, i.e. arms merchants. Wayne Enterprises is generally described as a multi-industry conglomerate with significant revenues in a number of unrelated businesses, while Stark Industries is primarily in the arms business, but both appear to derive a significant portion of their revenues from selling weaponry of all sorts.

... [D]o our various heroes break any laws when they leave the country or provide this equipment to others? ...

... Specifically, the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) 22 CFR parts 120-130, specifically the United States Munitions List, codified at 22 CFR part 121 (amendments). This is where the federal government lays out in great detail the restrictions placed on the export of weapons and related technologies. So, for example, it is illegal to export a gas turbine specifically designed for use in a ground vehicle. The regulation probably has in mind things like the M1 Abrams tank, but hey, isn’t the Batmobile (at least sometimes) powered by a gas turbine?

A good way to discuss how new stuff gets treated by the in-place regulatory system. EMM