>It is unlawful for a designer to specify plain slotted screws in most
>applications in the Republic of Zeta Cygni, because—and this is a
>direct quotation from the legislation—they are a monumental pain in
>the ass. Philips head* or GTFO. Violating this statute does not
>incur jail time, but there is a fine and you will get a nasty, nasty
>note from the Bureau of Standards.

I would presume the specific exception are literally decorative only screws, that don't even hold the object in place in any way.

And yeah, slotted screws are pretty much a pain in the ass.

Also, would there happen to be matching legislation against security screws except in cases where people do need to be protected for safety? And I'm not talking "they might shock themselves on the power tap inside this radio", I'm talking "if they could remove this protective panel they could easily fall into the high current transformer feeding the building". Because the former can be prevented with proper engineering on the inside.

(I actually hate security screws more than I hate slotted screws. Slotted screws are just a pain in the ass. Security screws, in the scenarios I typically encounter them, are there just to keep you from servicing and modifying hardware you actually own, and thus dependent upon the manufacturer to do any servicing. And are a pain in the ass in a couple of cases because they don't engage even as well as slotted screws.)