The Processing Rationalization Act was a Unified National Nominate act used to set the regulation of technology. Due to this, technological advancement was considerably slowed down for some time. Personality-based computing was feared to lead to another Artificial Intelligence going rogue after what happened with SHODAN on Citadel Station. It is unknown how long this act lasted, however as time went on the laws put in place by the act gradually started to be removed or made to be less strict. This was due to the fact that many ignored the law and continued to develop in secret, combined with push back from companies. So because of this many saw the law as useless.
System Shock Wiki