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As technology advances, people are gathering more and more information available to them in many different ways. Congress has tried to play catch up, unused to Americans having unfettered access to information from all over the world. The “Shift Age”, as it has been dubbed, is what happens next, while the world still has access to so much information and technology daily. One amazing advancement has been the 3D-printer, and Cody Wilson has taken the 3D-printing world by storm. Cody released online blueprints for printing a handgun on Monday, the “Liberator”. The “Liberator”, the world’s first 3D-printable gun, was downloaded over 100,000 times in the first two days it was placed online. Cody stated that instead of charging people for his blueprint, Defense Distributed (the company Cody founded) uploaded the weapons files so that the world would have free access to the blueprints. On Thursday, Cody received a letter from the State Department Office of Defense Trade Controls Compliance demanding that he remove the online blueprints for the “Liberator”, as well as nine other 3D-printable firearms components hosted on their website, Defcad.org. A disclaimer at the top of the site on Thursday reads, "DEFCAD files are being removed from public access at the request of the US Department of Defense Trade Controls. Until further notice, the United States government claims control of the information."
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Cody Wilson On The Angel Clark Show Talking 3-D Printable Guns
The government stated it wants to review the files to ensure they comply with the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR). The claims are that by uploading the files to the Internet and allowing anyone from any country to have access to them, Defense Distributed may have violated ITAR export controls. “Until the Department provides Defense Distributed with final [commodity jurisdiction] determinations, Defense Distributed should treat the above technical data as ITAR-controlled,” the letter reads. “This means that all data should be removed from public access immediately. Defense Distributed should review the remainder of the data made public on its website to determine whether any other data may be similarly controlled and proceed according to ITAR requirements.”
Cody, a law student at the University of Texas, stated that Defense Distributed will take down the files until the State Department has completed its review. “We have to comply,” he stated. “All such data should be removed from public access, the letter says. That might be an impossible standard. But we’ll do our part to remove it from our servers.”
This does not necessarily mean that all files of the 3D-printable gun will disappear. Mega, an online storage company based out of New Zealand, is where the files were stored. It’s unknown whether Mega will remove the files. The “Liberator” has also been uploaded to many peer-to-peer torrenting sites, such as Pirate Bay. The file for the “Liberator”, on Thursday night, had over 4,000 people seeding, or sharing, the file.
Cody claims that the government’s attempt to stop the “Liberator” from getting out is exactly what he wants. “This is the conversation I want,” Cody said. “Is this a workable regulatory regime? Can there be defense trade control in the era of the Internet and 3D printing?”
RELATED TOPICS
gun rightssecond amendmentInternet3D Printing
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Cody Wilson On The Angel Clark Show Talking 3-D Printable Guns
The government stated it wants to review the files to ensure they comply with the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR). The claims are that by uploading the files to the Internet and allowing anyone from any country to have access to them, Defense Distributed may have violated ITAR export controls. “Until the Department provides Defense Distributed with final [commodity jurisdiction] determinations, Defense Distributed should treat the above technical data as ITAR-controlled,” the letter reads. “This means that all data should be removed from public access immediately. Defense Distributed should review the remainder of the data made public on its website to determine whether any other data may be similarly controlled and proceed according to ITAR requirements.”
Cody, a law student at the University of Texas, stated that Defense Distributed will take down the files until the State Department has completed its review. “We have to comply,” he stated. “All such data should be removed from public access, the letter says. That might be an impossible standard. But we’ll do our part to remove it from our servers.”
This does not necessarily mean that all files of the 3D-printable gun will disappear. Mega, an online storage company based out of New Zealand, is where the files were stored. It’s unknown whether Mega will remove the files. The “Liberator” has also been uploaded to many peer-to-peer torrenting sites, such as Pirate Bay. The file for the “Liberator”, on Thursday night, had over 4,000 people seeding, or sharing, the file.
Cody claims that the government’s attempt to stop the “Liberator” from getting out is exactly what he wants. “This is the conversation I want,” Cody said. “Is this a workable regulatory regime? Can there be defense trade control in the era of the Internet and 3D printing?”
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