Robots and androids have been a part of Human society for centuries. They do most factory work, they labour in mines and hazardous environments without complaint, and nearly all middle-class homes have a domestic 'bot. Only a few possess true intelligence, but even less-than-sentient ones often seem remarkably "alive." They have no civil rights in Terran society.
Only recently has the role of robots in society become a divisive subject. Some progressive Humans argue sentient machines should have full civil rights, just like any other sentient being. On the other hand, some people worry organic life has potentially made itself obsolete by creating a stronger, more durable machine life as its successor — and that the government should therefore strictly regulate and "keep down" the theoretical "replacement." The conflict between the two viewpoints creates political tension and increasingly hostile feelings.
Marissa III, and thus her administration, views robots as tools — highly adaptable and useful tools, but nothing more. She has no intention of extending civil rights to machines; the only way the "machine rights" advocates could succeed would be to make some major political deals... which they're not in a position to do now, and probably never will be.
The Conjoined Civilizations has a slightly more "enlightened" attitude than the Terran Empire. Sentient machines can get citizenship with the Somon (a species of cyborgs who keep their major biological organs encased in a spherical metal shell), and must abide by the Somon laws regarding upgrades, reproduction, and so on. Obtaining citizenship requires the machine to pass a fairly strict test of autonomy (and to repay the cost of its construction, usually via a bank loan, if it were manufactured in CCR space). A few Terran-built machines have escaped to CCR space to take advantage of this situation.
Other civilizations impose restrictions on sentient machines similar to those of the Terran Empire. In Ackalian, Perseid, Thorgon, and Varanyi space, machines have absolutely no rights no matter what degree of sentience they possess, and can never become citizens.
Both the Mon'dabi Federation and the Velarian Confederation forbid the construction of artificial intelligence machines. They strictly regulate and watch any brought into their space by outsiders.