In article <4095e404$1@news.cadence.com>,
Louis Scheffer <lou@cadence.com> wrote:

This is something we can do with existing technology for about
$200M, for a beam bright enough that we ourselves can detect it.

Which is probably several times the total formal spend on SETI to date.
SETI is a very low budget activity compared with other space science, 
and is almost exclusively privately funded.

Active SETI is politically sensitive, both on cost grounds and because
of the fear that one interest group will transmit a biassed view
of earth (particularly on political or religious issues) or that ETIs
will launch a pre-emptive strike against anyone they detect.

And this cost will come down further as a consequence of Moore's
law.

There is a significant energy cost that is not subject to Moore's law.
For current, non-arrayed systems, transmit tubes don't last long and
represent a signicant cost.