One small problem with regulating nano: Who is to say that you have to
follow the regulations? there are laws against computer viruses but
people write and release them anyway.
There are many malicious and intelligent people who would release very
robust nanites into the environment with no regard for the rest of the world.
We need better protection that just a law if we are going to allow this
technology to be developed.
I support the evolution of the devices in cyberspace and then
constructing the succesful designs after theyve been tailored to our
needs. Heck with nano we can build some very nice computers that make
such evolution in a virtual world very possible and a hwole lot safer.
This still doesent solve the problem of some joker [or perhaps a
terrorist organization or vengeful state] producing and releasing
resilient strains of nanites that ARE equipped to deal with harsh and
varying environments and CAN reproduce and 'eat' many forms of energy.
Too dangerous to risk it, i say.