As Washington's war on terror rumbles ever closer to possible open conflict, one Irish-based US multinational has struck upon an ingenious method of weeding out potential megalomaniacs bent on global domination.
Customers placing an order on the website of Dell Computer Corporation are being bluntly asked: "Will the product(s) be used in connection with weapons of mass destruction, i.e. nuclear applications, missile technology, or chemical or biological weapons purposes?"
Answer in the negative and Dell will happily ship you a PC from its European manufacturing base in Raheen, Limerick. Say yes (and what conscientious terrorist would dare tell a lie?) and . . . well, nobody seems quite sure what will happen.
"What would we do if someone said 'yes'?" pondered a spokeswoman for Dell's Irish division, which employs 4,000 people in Limerick. "I can tell you that we wouldn't sell you a computer, that's for sure. As for further consequences. I don't know exactly. We'd have to look into it."
Dell says that US federal law requires it to quiz potential customers about their intentions. With fears of a fresh terrorist outrage mounting by the day, American security chiefs are concerned that fundamentalists will utilise any device at their disposal - even the innocuous desktop PC - to launch an attack.
"It must be remembered that a household computer is potentially a very powerful piece of equipment which could be used for no good," said the Dell spokeswoman.
"We are forbidden from sending computers to a number of proscribed states, for obvious reasons. This includes recognised 'rogue states', such as Iraq. The fear is that they might employ them in the development of destructive technology."
Customer confidentiality is guaranteed by Dell, the spokeswoman said. Faced with a potential security breach, however, it was conceivable that the company might pass sensitive information on to the federal authorities in the US. It is a dilemma which has yet to arise - to date, nobody has claimed that they will be using their new computer to plot Armageddon.
"It's not something that has come up. I suppose we'd have to deal with it as it happened," the spokeswoman said.