BoSS - Subscription Services
Every six months a BoSS ship drops out of hyperspace and orbits just long enough to receive the updated transmissions from the local office, and for the office to download updates from the rest of the galaxy. The BoSS ship then kicks back into hyperspace to continue its route. These transmissions are decoded for review prior to transmission.
BoSS records are continuously updated and shipped throughout the galaxy. What information is given to starports and worlds and how quickly it gets there is dependent upon subscription fees paid to BoSS. The higher the fee paid, the more information a starport or institution receives, and the faster it arrives. Most starports pay the minimum fee and get basic updates twice a year. The Empire and New Republic pay an enormous sum to BoSS, and BoSS sends special shuttles to the Imperial and New Republic capitals, where the information is disseminated to key worlds and bases.
Transponder Code Records[edit]
Every ship in the civilized portion of the galaxy is equipped with a transponder code: a unique signal beamed out continuously to identify each ship. The code includes the ship's name, type, owner, and any pertinent data about the ship. This code is built into each sublight engine, and is created by giving slight variations to the frequency of the engine's emissions. This variation, as well as data about the ship, is encoded in the transponder director that is sealed into the engine itself. This information is regulated, handled and dispersed by the Bureau of Ships and Services (BoSS).
Sensor Display: Transponder Code Profile
While the Bureau of Ships and Services (BoSS) keeps detailed records of starship transponder codes, it only releases these records to the proper authorities - local planetary defense forces, starport authorities, and of course, the Imperial Navy and Imperial Customs. Should characters somehow get BoSS records and download them into their ship's sensors computer, they might be able to identify other vessels by their transponder code. Of course, if the ship has a false transponder code, this information can be worthless anyway.
There are three ways to alter transponder codes. The easiest is to replace a ship's engines with engines from another ship, hopefully one with a cleaner record. A second way is to have false transponder codes installed in an engine. When the ship is scanned, it will be indentified as a completely different vehicle -- this is a tricky, expensive forgery, for if the attempt is failed, the transponder will often melt the engine's internal components down, ruining it. The final, and even riskiest, approach is to actually tamper with BoSS's files directly. This is very difficult because the codes are in an almost indecipherable code.
Criminals can make a small fortune forging transponder codes for wanted starships.
The A-scale Rating measurement system describes the proximity of a received starship transponder code to a match within the Bureau of Ships and Services database. An A-1 match is a perfect match; the larger the value, the poorer the match. Anything greater than A-3 is usually regarded as falsified.
Transponder codes can be listed as "classified" within the BoSS files. This means that the code is not available to standard subscribers. Being listed as classified costs several hundred thousand credits. However, Boss also sells classified information for a higher fee.
Spacer Documentation Records[edit]
Copies of Captain's Accredited Licenses, Ship's Operating Licenses and Arms Load-Out Permits of ships and spacers operating in a given vicinity are available for a fee. These can be cross-referenced with transponder code records to track and record the activities of specific ships.
If a ship possesses no licenses or permits, legal ports assume the ship has been stolen or is engaged in pirate activities. They impound the ship and charge violations of the local customs laws.
Travel Advisories[edit]
Starports or planets that do not subscribe to BoSS may be considered a fringeport or shadowport, resulting in a decrease in commerce (at least from law-abiding traders and merchants) ultimately affecting the economy of the planet itself. Since BoSS rates ports it also affects future tourism and visitors. Lax or nonexistent TransVeres results in an increase in pirate activity.
In the event a starport or planet does not use TransVeres, they will have to physically search every ship (transponder numbers being useless to them). This will tie up the traffic lanes and security forces and ultimately cause further decline in the local economy due to shipping deadlines and less stringent import/export markets existing elsewhere.
