Life preservation programming

Life preservation programming, or LPP, was a deeply-embedded series of commands required by law for every droid manufactured in the Old Republic and later in the Galactic Empire.

LPP subroutines functioned as a final stop against behavior that would lead to harming an organic. LPP functioned independently of restraining bolts or other additional devices. They were not a 100 percent effective safeguard, but the probability of a droid going rogue was greatly lessened with enough sophisticated LPP. Manufacturing or selling a droid without life preservation programming was illegal without special government dispensation, but enforcement was lax in the Outer Rim.

In order to pursue a career as a bounty hunter, 4-LOM, a rogue protocol droid, required the removal of his LPP subroutines. Jabba the Hutt's technicians eradicated this programming at the behest of the droid, and 4-LOM was integrated into Jabba's criminal empire, fully capable of harming and killing sentient beings.

Text and facts from the “Life preservation programming” article on Wookieepedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0. Modified for this site.