Inviting invasion: deep space advertisments and planetary security (Practical Ethics)

Inviting invasion: deep space advertisments and planetary security (Practical Ethics): "The Register warns that Dixons risks future of humanity with Star Wars-themed ads: the electronics chain, not satisfied with merely human customers also as a publicity stunt broadcast its ads into deep space, presumably for aliens to receive. This is done using the firm Deep Space Communications Network, who offers to beam messages into space using their satellite dish. Earlier this year an invitation to the Klingon opera 'u' was beamed towards Arcturus using a Dutch radio telescope. Are these stunts putting mankind at risk?

Most people would no doubt immediately dismiss alien invasion risks as plain silly. After all, they are a staple of low-status science fiction and conspiracy theories. But this is merely looking at the surface properties of the concept, it does not really tell us anything about whether there exists a real risk."