{"id":9946,"date":"2015-06-19T15:43:11","date_gmt":"2015-06-19T19:43:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.megalextoria.com\/wordpress\/?p=9946"},"modified":"2015-06-19T15:43:11","modified_gmt":"2015-06-19T19:43:11","slug":"feds-tighten-restrictions-on-3-d-printed-gun-files-online","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.megalextoria.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/2015\/06\/19\/feds-tighten-restrictions-on-3-d-printed-gun-files-online\/","title":{"rendered":"Feds Tighten Restrictions on 3-D Printed Gun Files Online"},"content":{"rendered":"

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THE NOTION OF a 3-D printable gun has become the perfect flashpoint in a new conflict between digital arms control and free speech. Should Americans be allowed to say and share whatever they want online, even if that \u201cspeech\u201d is a blueprint for a gun? The State Department has now answered that question with a resounding \u201cno.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the last few days, the State Department has issued two new statements confirming its intention to act as gatekeeper for when Americans can legally publish online data that could allow someone to digitally fabricate a gun. And those statements outline how it plans to restrict those publications as a controlled \u201cforeign export\u201d of munitions.<\/p>\n

Earlier this week, the State Department sent a letter to the controversial gun access group Defense Distributed, confirming that it will require the group to get specific permission from the government before publishing its 3-D printable gun files online. That warning comes more than two years after the State Department sent Defense Distributed an initial letter telling it to take its gun files off its website pending a decision about their legality.<\/p>\n

And in a separate filing to the federal register last week, the State Department also wrote that it intends to require prior approval for the online publication of any \u201ctechnical data\u201d that, vaguely defined, would allow for the creation of weapons, an even broader swathe of files. The agency\u2019s statement warns that publishing those weapon files to the Internet, with its global connections, could amount to violating the International Trade in Arms Regulations (ITAR) by exporting controlled weapons data to a foreign country\u2014hardly different, by its definition, from sending missile schematics to Iran.<\/p>\n

\u201cBefore posting information to the Internet, you should determine whether the information is \u2018technical data.\u2019 You should review the [United State Munitions List], and if there is doubt about whether the information is \u2018technical data,\u2019 you may request a commodity jurisdiction determination from the Department,\u201d reads the State Department\u2019s filing. \u201cPosting \u2018technical data\u2019 to the Internet without a Department or other authorization is a violation of the ITAR even absent specific knowledge that a foreign national will read the \u2018technical data.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

The State Department\u2019s renewed attempt to control the spread of gun files online comes just as the conflict between the control of digital weapons \u201cexports\u201d and free speech is coming to a head: A month ago, Defense Distributed sued the State Department on First Amendment grounds, arguing that its right to free speech is being violated by the State Department\u2019s demand for prior approval of its printable gun file uploads.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust because information can be used for some bad purpose doesn\u2019t make it illegal to publish it,\u201d says Matthew Goldstein, an export control lawyer representing Defense Distributed. \u201cThis isn\u2019t just a firearms case, even though it deals with firearms. It\u2019s really a free speech case.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Defense Distributed\u2019s lawsuit also includes the argument that the group\u2019s second amendment rights\u2014its access to firearms\u2014were trampled by the State Department\u2019s export control restrictions. Cody Wilson, the group\u2019s founder, argues that the State Department\u2019s new declaration of its control over online gun files only makes that violation clearer. \u201cIt\u2019s a land grab,\u201d Wilson says. \u201cWith this instituted set of powers, you have a first and second amendment in name only.\u201d<\/p>\n

Source: Feds Tighten Restrictions on 3-D Printed Gun Files Online | WIRED<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

THE NOTION OF a 3-D printable gun has become the perfect flashpoint in a new conflict between digital arms control and free speech. Should Americans be allowed to say and share whatever they want online, even if that \u201cspeech\u201d is a blueprint for a gun? The State Department has now answered that question with a resounding \u201cno.\u201d In the last few days, the State Department has issued two new statements confirming its intention to act as gatekeeper for when Americans can legally publish online data that could allow someone to digitally fabricate a gun. And those statements outline how it plans to restrict those publications as a controlled \u201cforeign export\u201d of munitions. Earlier this week, the State Department sent a letter to the controversial gun access group Defense Distributed, confirming that it will require the group to get specific permission from the government before publishing its 3-D printable gun files online. That warning comes more than two years after the State Department sent Defense Distributed an initial letter telling it to take its gun files off its website pending a decision about their legality. And in a separate filing to the federal register last week, the State Department also wrote […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[82,98],"class_list":["post-9946","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news-and-politics","tag-1st-amendment","tag-2nd-amendment"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.megalextoria.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9946","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.megalextoria.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.megalextoria.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.megalextoria.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.megalextoria.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9946"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.megalextoria.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9946\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.megalextoria.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9946"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.megalextoria.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9946"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.megalextoria.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9946"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}