Temporal Prime Directive
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Temporal Prime Directive is a principle in the Star Trek universe, similar to the standard Prime Directive. Its purpose is to prevent a time traveler from interfering in the natural development of a timeline. This can include altering events or informing those in the past prematurely to change an outcome. It can also be interpreted as a directive to maintain the timeline that the time traveler originates from--i.e., requiring that the time traveler prevent other, non-Starfleet individuals from altering that timeline as well as avoiding doing so themselves.
[edit] History
The TPD was formally created at least as early as the 2370s, and was enforced through an agency of Starfleet called Temporal Investigations. By the 29th century, this body became the Temporal Integrity Commission, which monitored and restricted deviations from the natural flow of history.
As time travel technology became practical, the Temporal Accords were held, so that beings on a large scale would adopt the principle of the TPD. It was in direct opposition to this that the Temporal Cold War started.
