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The US government has blocked a Texas-based company from distributing details online of how to make a plastic gun using a 3-D printer.
The ban, by the State Department citing international arms control law, comes just days after the world's first such gun was successfully fired.
Defense Distributed, the company that made the prototype, stated on Twitter that its project had "gone dark" at the instigation of the government.
The company is run by Cody Wilson, a 25-year-old University of Texas law student who has said the idea for freely distributing details about how to produce the guns online was inspired by 19th century anarchist writing. Wilson argues everyone should have access to guns.
A State Department spokesman said: "Although we do not comment on whether we have individual ongoing compliance matters, we can confirm that the department has been in communication with the company."
The action came too late to prevent widespread distribution of the files: Defense Distributed told Forbes that the files have already been downloaded more than 100,000 times in the two days since they were uploaded. The largest number of downloads initially were to addresses in Spain, followed by the US, Brazil, Germany and the UK.
Fifteen of the gun's 16 pieces are constructed on the $8,000 Stratasys Dimension SST 3D printer, Forbes said. The final piece is a common nail, used as a firing pin, that can be found in a hardware store.
Betabeat posted a copy of the letter reportedly sent by the Department of State to Wilson. The department said the blueprints had to be taken offline because they may contain data regulated by the State Department. The departement said it would review the files.
"I immediately complied and I've taken down the files," Wilson told Betabeat. "But this is a much bigger deal than guns. It has implications for the freedom of the web."
Defense Distributed does not host the files in the US; instead it has uploaded them to the Mega website run by the internet entrepreneur Kim Dotcom, based in New Zealand, and where user information – including who has logged into the site and downloaded files – is encrypted.
The files have also been uploaded to the Pirate Bay file-sharing site, where they have proved a popular download.
The gun blueprints take the form of computer-aided design files, which have to be read by specialist software which can then be used by industrial 3D printers to build up the hair-thin layers, one by one, to create the finished parts.
On Thursday, a British expert in 3D printing and a ballistics expert separately warned that building a gun from the parts could be lethal to the user, because the physics involved in firing a bullet – with pressures in the gun chamber of more than 1,000 atmospheres, and temperatures of over 200C – could put catastrophic stresses on the plastics used it its construction.
Even so, two British newspapers are understood to have asked 3D printing companies to try to build the gun for them.
In the US, a reporter who downloaded the file found that companies with sufficient 3D printing capability refused to produce the device, citing laws against the production of such weapons – or asking prices that were substantially higher than those for high-quality rifles available in shops.
Wilson has been on a public mission to create a 3D printed gun since September 2012. He initially attempted to fund the project using crowdsourcing site Indiegogo, but the site removed his pitch for breaching the company's rules. Wilson then raised $20,000 in Bitcoins for the project but Stratasys repossessed his printer.
He has since gained access to a second Stratasys printer which was presumably used to create the gun fired over the weekend.
Wilson unsuccessfully applied for a federal firearms license from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and has said he wants to create the gun legally. On Sunday, New York senator Charles Schumer said that legislation should be created to prevent people from making 3D printed guns.
A few days after the blueprints for the world’s first printable gun were published online, Defense Distributed has been asked by the State Department to pull them down, citing possible arms trafficking violations. The blueprints, however, are still available on The Pirate Bay and many other file-sharing sites, which adds a 3D chapter to the IP enforcement debate.The Pirate Bay says it welcomes the blueprints and has no intention of taking the files down.
3d-goneIn late 2012 the 3D blueprint website Thingiverse decided to ban 3D gun designs, citing their terms of service which clearly prohibit files used to make weapons.
Enter DEFCAD, a site dedicated to hosting designs that have been banned at Thingiverse. Namely, the entirely printable 3D gun design which clocked up more than 100,000 downloads within its first two days of release.
This did not sit well with the Department of State Office of Defense Trade Controls who kindly requested that DEFCAD remove the availability of the 3D printable gun documents, enthusiastically named “The Liberator,” citing a possible violation of International Traffic in Arms Regulations.
In the letter from the State Department, which can be read in full at Forbes, the Government explains that it wants to review whether the designs are in compliance with arms export control laws.
While the attempted censorship of the 3D gun blueprints may come as no surprise, the popularity of these files is a vivid example of the daunting task faced by those charged with censorship of information.
While DEFCON promptly complied with the request to remove access to the design, it was shared so widely during the short window of availability that it is now virtually impossible to prevent any further distribution. Currently, there appears to be several torrents available for the design at The Pirate Bay and the site informs us that these will not be censored.
“TPB has for close to 10 years been operating without taking down one single torrent due to pressure from the outside. And it will never start doing that,” A Pirate Bay insider told TorrentFreak.
The Pirate Bay is not out to promote guns, but they do have a great interest in 3D printing.
“We think the whole idea of a printable object is interesting. You can print guns for sure, but even better you can print plowshares and other things as well. The problem is not the object but what you do with it. Just as with a cooking knife.”
The torrent site also says it welcomes Defense Distributed founder Cody Wilson to start publishing designs on The Pirate Bay. A year ago TPB launched a 3D print section where the blueprints would fit nicely.
“When Defcad is closed down there is still TPB. Cody is welcome to upload everything on Defcad to TPB as well, so the users can comment on the crap.”
“Cody Wilson’s site has been branded ‘A Pirate Bay for 3D objects’ which is kind of funny, since TPB has had its physibles section more than a year already, with lots of objects in there. And since the whole idea behind TPB is to not let outside pressure judge, TPB is prepared for things like that.”
The Pirate Bay insider welcomes a debate on gun laws and U.S. oppression of free speech. “We laugh at their gun love since it’s so obviously the wrong way to go.”
“We think that the good thing about the discussion about 3D printers and their gun laws might bring more focus on the double standards that the U.S. is having and hopefully – people will start printing signs to protest against the guns, the corruption and the threats against freedom of speech that the U.S. is pushing on us.”
For now the 3D gun links posted on The Pirate Bay are from unverified sources. Printing those might not be such a good idea, but it is clear that the original designs are not going away. All one needs in order to access these files is a hash, there is no longer a central source that can be shut down to prevent public access to these files.
This BitTorrent connection also gives the term Defense Distributed a whole new meaning.
The takedown of the blueprints could very well mark the beginning of an era where proponents of so-called cyber warfare begin using military resources in attempts to regulate a data distribution protocol which has, thus far, been impossible to regulate.
At the minimum, it’s the start of a crackdown on 3D blueprints, which we will undoubtedly become more common as technology advances.
if you're here in the Bay Area, you may get a chance to try it out! It doesn't say if there are restrictions on what can be printed... although probably will be of course.
Sunnyvale and Mountain View Public Libraries Get 3D Printers
Bay Area locals now have access to 3D printers, machines that can turn the digital into the physical. A brand new one is plugged in at Sunnyvale Public Library and another at Mountain View Public Library. Public libraries are no longer just places to peruse reference materials, speak in hushed voices, and check out a book. There's lots of innovation at the local library, which is finding ways to attract new audiences.
What's a MakerBot?
The MakerBot Replicator 2 may sound like a comeback movie role for California's former governor, but if you're up on the latest tech hardware news, you'll know it's a 3D printer. What do MakerBots make? Just about everything, according to the MakerBot blog.
Considering that this is a printer manufactured by a 3-year-old company that has been shipping for only a few months, library managers are busy developing outreach programs to get the rest of us trained. They're excited about the buzz the 3D printers are creating and the wide berth of skill sets they will foster. "We're really thrilled about the opportunity to get teens into the library, creating cool stuff, running music labs, designing jewelry, and learning how to write maker software programs," said Sunnyvale library services director Lisa Rosenblum.
The Future Is Now
It was Star Wars Day at the Mountain View Public Library on May 4, and the library demonstrated its newest asset as it successfully built "Star Wars" characters in MakerBot's signature green to the amazement of participants. Mountain View library services manager Paul Sims is holding a 3D Open House in mid-June, when the library will further embrace the maker culture with talks, activities, and demos. Meanwhile, have a look at Thingiverse for 3D object designs and inspiration.
Opportunities This Summer
Both libraries are getting us closer to a hands-on experience with the 3D printer. From June 1, Sunnyvale Public Library will open reservations for using the 3D printer with your MakerWare.stl-format, design-ready work and color choice. While eight filament colors are available, the machine can only print in one color at a time. You can also enjoy "Printing Old and New," a summer series at Sunnyvale Public Library covering how-to's for 3D modeling software, Trimble SketchUp, TechShop San Jose, and even a look at the history of typewriters and the letterpress.
In addition to upcoming open houses, Mountain View Public Library is holding sessions for the high school robotics team while the staff experiments with printing on textiles and even integrating sounds and light into the fabrication of home products like tote bags.
Both 3D printer installations resulted from grants from the Institute of Museum and Library Sciences to Sunnyvale and from the Pacific Library Partnership to Mountain View.
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