Representatives from the four empires yesterday met with Orion Mashel, founder of the ORE Syndicate, along with key ORE administrative personnel at an undisclosed location somewhere in the Outer Ring region. The subject of their meeting was ORE's recent announcement that come November 17th, they would commence SCC-market retail of starbase components and moon mining tools previously available only to empire governments and megacorporations.
According to reliable reports, empire representatives were adamant in stating that the proposed retailing of these items would serve to give even more power to an already disproportionately powerful segment of the population, and would furthermore hamper financial empire interests by denying them sole rights to the technology such as they have enjoyed up to this point.
ORE administration representatives were equally adamant, however, in stating that the move to retail these items was a significant step forward for the interstellar community, countering the empire representatives' concerns with their stated belief that these items would lead to a mass migration of capsuleers from empire-controlled territories, leaving the empires' economies safe from the massive condensation of wealth - and subsequent economic troubles -- commonly found where prolific capsuleers set up camp.
The meeting ended with no discernible conclusion, but according to an inside source the consensus among empire representatives was that if the Syndicate would put its own financial interests above the general welfare of the interstellar community, other measures would have to be taken.
More on this as it develops.