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As the title, how can the galaxy have instantaneous wireless 3D video communication across arbitrary distance, but the Death Star plans had to be carried in one copy by the space travel equivalent of IPoAC? They seem important enough that the Rebels might be willing to send them to a bunch of different ships in different areas of the galaxy (remember, they can send data instantaneously over any distance, albeit with some difficulty as shown when they had to bounce a signal in Episode I, so perhaps they couldn't send it just anywhere, as noted by Richard) and then immediately have them make the jump to hyperspace with the destination somewhere else, to evade Imperial interception (assuming the signal could be intercepted and traced in the first place).

I do realize that the real answer is that the writers had no idea that FTL communication opens up such a huge can of worms, I'm just interested if it was ever explained in-universe.

IllusiveBrian
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    Yeah, because what you want to be doing is posting that sort of information all around the galaxy. One Death Star = bad. 20 of them = super-bad :-) – Valorum Mar 08 '15 at 02:22
  • @Richard I suppose that's a possibility, but then why is encryption not standard procedure? – IllusiveBrian Mar 08 '15 at 02:23
  • Dunno. It's a good question and one that I don't know the answer to. I'll be interested to see the response. – Valorum Mar 08 '15 at 02:26
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    For the record, distance does seem to be an issue for hyperspace communication. Don't forget that Obi-Wan had to "bounce" a signal off of Anakin's ship in AotC. – Valorum Mar 08 '15 at 02:27
  • @phantom42 Indeed it is, thanks. I've flagged it but I guess being the author doesn't give my flag any precedence. – IllusiveBrian Mar 08 '15 at 02:31
  • @Namfuak - don't worry, it will get closed by several more votes, or by a mod, shortly – The Fallen Mar 08 '15 at 02:32
  • The idea for the unshielded heat vent/exhaust port was the product of too many cheap Happy Hour drinks, and was written out on the back of a cocktail napkin. Otherwise, it would have been all-digital. – PoloHoleSet Oct 09 '17 at 19:10

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Because the instantaneous communication protocol in use, the HoloNet, was controlled by the Empire. They had full control over the sending and receiving of data over the network, and as such could have blocked the data from being received.

As far as encryption goes, since the Empire controlled all the intermediate hardware, and the specifications for the protocol, it is conceivable that if they had allowed something to be sent, they could have used some sort of man-in-the-middle attack to compromise the message.

In reference to the comments about having plans ending up all over and other Death Stars built, Legends canon tells about the Hutts stealing the plans from the emergent New Republic and building their own version, the Darksaber.

The Fallen
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