Ramifications of the Consortium Tech Monopoly

August 23rd, 2042:
Ramifications of the Consortium Technology Monopoly
By: Professor Ramsay Sarasin
From His Talk before the Global Senate
"Good evening ladies and gentlemen. Thank you very much for giving me this opportunity to speak to you today about what is, at present, a most unpopular subject. I am sincerely grateful that you are adhering to the open allowance decree put in place for speaking before the Senate, as there are many of you out there who have outright refused requests by both myself and my colleague, Malcolm Thomas, for private audiences to voice our concerns.
For those unaware, I am a critic of the Consortium. I have been since their inception as, despite their apparent openness of information, I am deeply concerned about the technology they keep from the rest of the world. I am speaking of course about three things in particular: The development of The Consortium King A.I., the Consortium Mind Communicator, or C.M.C. for short, and the defensive and offensive weaponry aboard their C-3800 aircraft. 
I would like to first address the C.M.C. as this is the device which, to many, appears to be something completely out of science fiction. Developed entirely in secret, the Consortium has continually refused to release any information about the device and how it functions. What we know is that it integrates itself into the thought patterns of the user, allowing them to join a "chat room", for lack of a better word, with others linked into the same frequency. Consortium officers have been quoted as saying that it extends at the very least from the Earth to the Moon, allowing instant secret communication through thought waves. Since we do not understand how the technology works, it has been said by the Consortium Queen that this in fact helps keep the technology untraceable and undetectable by third parties. This then leaves Consortium officers to communicate with one another freely and security can be maintained.
Does no one else see the ramifications of this technology? Cell phone companies have been quaking in fear of this little wonder hitting the open market. It would instantly and totally render hundreds of billions of dollars of infrastructure useless. One of the main ways the Long Dragon Syndicate was tracked down and eliminated was by tracking their communications. If this technology was leaked (as we have no idea if it needs to be centrally controlled or works independently), it would allow criminal organizations ease of communication in frightening ways. What about insider trading? Spies able to pass confidential information unchallenged? This is a dangerous technology!
With so many hundreds of C.M.C. reports released by the Consortium King, how are we to verify any of it is accurate? We are taking the machine's word on this, and have no way to determine if maybe we're just being given a line of bull.
So why does the Consortium keep it secret?
It's all part of the greater problem, the Consortium Technology Monopoly. We have some amazing tech out there now. Travelling to other planets and colonizing them. Near unlimited sources of energy.
Yet, all of the truly wondrous advancements are kept by the Consortium for their use only. The CMC would truly revolutionize all forms of human communication. Even with the problems discussed above, there is no doubt it would greatly benefit mankind. And it is locked away. No technical details, and specialized treaties created by the Global Senate to protect them.
One has to wonder why the Consortium feels the need to totally hide this technology. What about it means that they can act above the law, and say, "This is too dangerous for anyone else". The previously mentioned concerns may be valid, and would call for a control of the technology, but not an utter removal of it from the public's hands. This seems to be a common trend though. The King, the C-3800's, the Bishop "Armor," that strange Medical Utility Visual Implant... the list goes on. 
The Consortium simply have access to technology leagues above anyone else, and they aren't sharing it. For a group that says they are for the betterment of mankind, why are these spectacular discoveries kept secret?
Next I would like talk about... what? You said I'd have fifteen minutes! That was only six! Stop it! I'm on a roll here! You'll.... You can't silence the... truth!"
Category:Consortium Mind Communicator
Category:Consortium
Category:Secrecy
Category:Malcolm Thomas