THE BEGINNING
In the 20th century mankind agreed that space should not be weaponised.
The Outer Space Treaty, formally the Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies, was a treaty that formed the basis of international space law. The treaty was opened for signature in the USA the UK, and the Soviet Union on 27 January 1967, and entered into force on 10 October 1967. During the remainder of the century and the following century all the countries on planet Earth signed up to this agreement.
THE MODULE
A degree of protection
As humankind expanded across the galaxy it became increasingly apparent that spaceships had to carry armaments and shields to protect against other life forms, such as Thargoids, and independent human colonies in other systems (NPCs).
In order to contain PvP piracy a module was developed that locks the weapon controls of any attacking ship. The module is ineffective against craft from other systems and alien races, which use different software, so it only blocks attacks by craft piloted by humans originating from the Sol system.
It does however provide a degree of security for peaceful traders, miners and tour operators who are perfectly able to deal with NPCs and avoid Thargoids, but find themselves hopelessly outgunned by heavily engineered ships flown by rogue humans.
This optional module takes up a single slot and behaves in exactly the same way as any other module - except that it cannot be turned off in flight.
THE CRASH
The Berwyn Mountain UFO incident
The Berwyn range (Welsh: Mynydd y Berwyn) is an isolated and sparsely populated area of moorland in the northeast of Wales.
On 23 January 1974 an alien craft crashed in the area and was recovered. The technology from the craft was used in the 22nd century to build a set of sophisticated weapon controls that enforced the Outer Space Treaty. The rules set by the controlling software were called the Berwyn Protocol.