Well, I don't have the GURPS book that discusses such things, and I'm given to understand that it's the best source for understanding the Imperial feudal structure, so I'm a bit out in the wilderness here.
I get where "feudal" comes from, if we substitute political power for land. The dichotomy between the nobles described in the game and the titles handed out willy-nilly during character generation has always muddied that one a bit. There are nobles who get land grants and exercise considerable political power in the name of the Emperor - and their political power seems to be more important than whatever wealth they derive from their estates - and then there is a class of nobility in title only, given respect and deference for their lineage or accomplishments but little or nothing beyond that.
As for the "technocracy" part, we seem to be debating two different definitions of technocracy: one in which government derives from control of technology and the means to produce it, and one in which government is by individuals expertly trained in how to govern.
The question then is: which definition does Marc intend? Is he implying that the Imperium controls the flow of technology to its advantage - that there are laws and regulations that keep the TL6 world from tapping into the wealth of TL15 knowledge out there to advance itself and make its businesses more profitable?
Or, is he implying that the vast Imperial bureaucracy upon which the nobles rely are carefully trained experts in the art of governance, that they can predict with fair accuracy what the economic and social results of this or that policy will be and provide that guidance to their Noble lords, who make the final decision on behalf of the emperor, that these employees are expert in information-gathering, communications, management and resource allocation and are therefore uniquely able to implement the noble's will across a region spanning many light years and burdened by week-long communication lags between neighboring stars, and so on?
CT book 3 defines it as, "Government by specific individuals for those who agree to be ruled. Relationships are based on the performance of technical activities which are mutually beneficial." Since the member planets do agree to yield sovereignty in the regions beyond their orbit to the Imperium, and since the writ of the Imperial noble only covers those regions - with a very few carefully enumerated exceptions - that first sentence is accurate, with the proviso that agreement appears to be permanently binding once given, and that at points in history the Imperium was not above extorting agreement by threat or force.
The question then is whether it's the first or second definition above that satisfies the second sentence.
