Should Droids be granted Sentient Rights?

[Enola Straight]

Inspired by this fanfic.
http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5914015/1/M ... of_a_Droid

A freighter from the GFFA transverses the ubiquitous wormhole/spatial anomaly and encounters a mostly-human government...one which has created artificial intelligences with legal rights, usually bestowed to only organic sentience, secured and enforced by law.

These entities are called Commander Data and Voyagers EMH.

The droids contact a Federation representative and officially request asylum.

They want...freedom.


Discuss the ramifications political, economic, social, philosophical/religeous, etc.

[Enola Straight]

Parallel discussion

http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/sho ... p?t=588443

[Dr Roberts]

Droids on Naboo do have rights. At least during the age of the Republic anyway.

[Darth Tanner]

Droids on Naboo do have rights. At least during the age of the Republic anyway.

What rights? The only droids we see on Naboo are the R2 units used on the fighters and the Queens ship and C3PO once he starts hanging out with Padme. The ones in the queens ship are sent to their deaths trying to repair the shield without a second thought and both R2 and C3PO are handed off to Bail after Padmes death without any consultation, C3PO even gets his memory wiped.

As to the OP other than IG88 and some few examples of droid gangsters no droid has been shown to actually want their freedom, their programming can be assumed to preclude them having that desire, the average droid compliment of a freighter as such would not want their freedom to begin with and the situation reverts to the freighter captain selling his tech to the Federation and living on Risa up to his armpits in free commie sex.