The Wrath of George

A little while back I wrote a post called The Force of Light about the Spyder III Pro Arctic, a laser manufactured by Wicked Lasers to look like George Lucas' Star Wars lightsaber. I believe my comment was "if you are making a portable laser why not make it look like a lightsaber?" Note that it was also described as "extremely dangerous is an understatement." That extremely dangerous part is what had made LucasFim a bit unhappy with Wicked Lasers.

Which lead to their response:

"It has come to our attention that a company called Wicked Lasers is selling a highly dangerous product out of Hong Kong that is designed to look like a lightsaber from Star Wars. This product is not licensed or approved by Lucasfilm in any way. We have demanded that Wicked Lasers immediately cease and desist their infringing activities. As Wicked Lasers itself admits, this product can cause serious injury to the user and other people. We strongly discourage consumers from purchasing it."

Ok, I get it. Extremely dangerous laser + stupid or uninformed person = death and/or gigantic lawsuit. And even though it costs $200 and is not marketed as a lightsaber, all you need is one fanatic to ruin it for everybody.

Are you hearing the Imperial March too?...