By now, you’ve probably heard about the Liberator pistol being produced by Defense Distributed. It was designed and executed on a 3D printer, it’s made of plastic, and it works to some extent. The best part is that the company made the schematics and instructions public.
Yep. An open-source gun.
The Department of State took notice, and in a fit of bureaucratic clue deficit, they’ve attempted to remove it from the internet. The blurb they’ve put up on the site reads, “until further notice, the United States government claims control of the information.”
Yeah. Um…no. Nobody tell them that’s not possible, okay? As I write this, the file has been mirrored all over the place. By trying to clamp down on it, the government has ensured that it is being more widely disseminated than it ever would have been if they’d just left it alone. Let’s just savor the irony for a moment.
The request comes from the Office of Defense Trade Controls Compliance. The letter they sent Defense Distributed is up here, here, and here. This is the second paragraph:
DTCC/END is conducting a review of technical data made publicly available by Defense Distributed through its 3D printing website, DEFCAD.org, the majority of which appear to be related to items in Category I of the USML. Defense Distributed may have released ITAR-controlled technical data without the required prior authorization from the Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (DDTC), a violation of the ITAR.
Things like encryption schemes and certain trade techniques can be classified as falling under ITAR regs, and that’s what they’re trying to invoke here. The problem is, information doesn’t respect borders and it doesn’t need to be attached to a physical artifact. They’re exacerbating the very redistribution they’re trying to stymie.
They’re also raising some free speech issues that could turn into a very interesting civil liberties debate.