I call them "Secret Plans". You gotta save up the emotional energy and reward. On so many projects, you get the same neuro-chemical reward by talking about your project plans and how cool the result will be, as you do by making progress. By holding out, and only allowing progress itself to be a reward, and not just the talking, I usually get much further. The project may still die, but then I have something in my hands usually, and that's more rewarding than a bunch of people who think I only talk about things and never start/do any of them. . .
I would imagine most software "contractors" that work for a major company are not 1099 - that carries a bunch of risks. Most "Contractors" are W2 employees of a labor for hire company. That still seems perfectly legal. "Hiring entity" would be Big Staffing Company, your customer would be Big Internet Company.
Not only wave length, but also beam width. The laser is spatially very compact. Radio waves need larger antenna apertures to be that focused. It's hard to get tight spatial resolution with a beam that looks like a balloon animal.
Also, multipath and time-of-flight is difficult with radio waves, and the EM reflectance is weirder. Light is just much more convenient for this purpose. But - it's not outside of the realm of possible.
That's a really fascinating thought. We often hear and talk about "public health" in the US - but also have serious issues with approving "public" health organizations and care providers. It's ironic how we want our private businesses to take care of our public health.