Letter bomb
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. Please discuss this issue on the talk page or replace this tag with a more specific message. This article has been tagged since February 2007. |
A mailbomb (or mail bomb), also called parcel bomb, letter bomb or post bomb, is an explosive device sent via the postal service, and designed with the intention to injure or kill the recipient when opened. They have been used in indiscriminate terrorist attacks.[citation needed] Some countries have agencies the job of which is in part the interdiction of mailbombs and the investigation of mailbombings.
Mail bombs are usually set to explode immediately on opening, with the intention of seriously injuring or killing the recipient (who may or may not be the person to whom the bomb was addressed). Parcel bombs may have excessive postage because a bomber usually does not want to mail a parcel over the counter, having to deal with a clerk, or because he doesn't want to take any risk the parcel will be returned to him for postage due. Letter bombs may feel rigid, or appear uneven or lopsided. Package bombs may have an irregular shape, soft spots, or bulges. Oil or grease stains are also indicated as warning signs.
A related threat is mail containing unidentified powders or chemicals. In some cases, these turn out to be harmless, sent as a joke or hoax threat.
Contents |
[edit] Examples
- The world's first mailbomb was used by a Swedish man named Martin Ekenberg on August 20, 1904, targeting CEO Karl Fredrik Lundin in Stockholm. It was made of a box loaded with bullets and explosives.[1]
- Theodore Kaczynski, the "Unabomber", killed three and injured 23 in a series of mailbombings in the United States from the late 1970s to the early 1990s.
- Franz Fuchs, Austrian mailbomber, killed four and injured 15 with mailbombs and improvised explosive devices in the mid-1990s.
- In February 2007, a series of mailbombings in the United Kingdom injured nine people, though none of them were critically hurt.
- In January and February 2007, a bomber calling himself "The Bishop" sent several unassembled bombs to financial firms in the United States, and is believed to be planning further attacks.
[edit] Patentability
Letter-bombs, along with anti-personnel mines, are typical examples of subject-matter excluded from patentability under the European Patent Convention, because the publication or exploitation of such inventions are contrary to the "ordre public" and/or the morality (Article 53(a) EPC). [2]
[edit] References
- ^ *[1] (Swedish)
- ^ European Patent Office, Guidelines for Examination in the European Patent Office. C IV 3.1 Matter contrary to ordre public or morality, Germany, June 2005, ISBN 3-89605-074-5.
