4 ms·

The analogous technological situation is with color printers and counterfeiting money. The color printer did not bring about a "counterfeiting revolution" or "d

The analogous technological situation is with color printers and counterfeiting money. The color printer did not bring about a "counterfeiting revolution" or "distributed currency" or anything like that. Simply manufacturers of the printers have software preventing printing of realistic currency. When the 3d printing industry reaches some sort of maturity, IF it ever goes mainstream, similar measures will be instituted. Hell, I haven't read the relevant law but quite possibly he's already in violation of the Undetectable Firearms Act. Any federal prosecutors keeping up with this story? Ortiz? Basically all you have here is a privileged middle class kid who enjoys media attention and getting reactions from people.

olympus 13y ago
The article mentions that it has a 6-ounce chunk of metal in it so it is detectable. The guys at DD seem to be on top of their legal game.
- reader5000 13y ago
  If the chunk of metal is easily removable I'm not so sure.
samstave 13y ago
Sorta. I think the analogy with printing money would be predicated on the materials suitable for counterfeit money were available I.E. the proper paper. With 3D printing a gun, the materials are ubiquitous and cheap.
- reader5000 13y ago
  You don't need the exact material for a quality counterfeit bill. I don't think sufficient bill-like materials are any more scarce than the high-grade plastics these guns need, not to mention bullets and gunpowder.
  - samstave 13y ago
    Hmm... I am not willing to research if counterfeiting materials are indeed more easily available than I believed. :)
  - stcredzero 13y ago
    > I don't think sufficient bill-like materials are any more scarce than the high-grade plastics these guns need Actually, in the past that paper and the presses were hard to get undetectably. This is changing as more and more of the world achieves higher levels of industrial infrastructure.
- saraid216 13y ago
  A quick Google found me this: http://www.secretservice.gov/money_detect.shtml http://www.secretservice.gov/money_detect.shtml While the legitimacy of the page is kinda um... I'm not convinced, it does suggest that the hard part of counterfeiting is in printing quality.
revelation 13y ago
The idea of software in a printer preventing you from printing counterfeit currency is ridiculous. These things (and similar nonsense in Photoshop et al) have only served to annoy graphic designers. The only thing "protecting" real money is the many embedded, hard to replicate patterns and markers. Of course, you can't put the genie back in the bottle with how guns work. You can't write software that will prevent anyone from printing gun parts, as if there was a way for the software to tell intentions from abstract 3D shapes.
- Turing_Machine 13y ago
  Right. Prohibiting 3D printers from making shapes with through-holes (i.e., a barrel) would be somewhat...limiting.
- dexen 13y ago
  > The idea of software in a printer preventing you from printing counterfeit currency is ridiculous. ...but it works well enough. It is embedded in certain graphics program and in (computer-driven) printer/copiers for office use. Not sure about printer drivers, but probably just as well. The tech behind it is quite simple, actually: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EURion_constellation http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EURion_constellation However, I can't imagine any similar solution working for 3D print. When one tries to copy bank notes, the `EURion constellation' is there, included by the issuer. However, when trying to print third-party designed 3D item, if the designer did not bother with including any protective markings, those simply won't be there.
- dllthomas 13y ago
  "[...] as if there was a way for the software to tell intentions from abstract 3D shapes." That sounds more interesting than it probably should...
stcredzero 13y ago
> The analogous technological situation is with color printers and counterfeiting money. Computer programming, hacking, and reverse engineering are just as analogous. > When the 3d printing industry reaches some sort of maturity, IF it ever goes mainstream, similar measures will be instituted. Unfortunate if true, and just as futile as "attached magazine" laws.

olympus 13y ago

The article mentions that it has a 6-ounce chunk of metal in it so it is detectable. The guys at DD seem to be on top of their legal game.

reader5000 13y ago
If the chunk of metal is easily removable I'm not so sure.

samstave 13y ago

Sorta. I think the analogy with printing money would be predicated on the materials suitable for counterfeit money were available I.E. the proper paper. With 3D printing a gun, the materials are ubiquitous and cheap.

reader5000 13y ago
You don't need the exact material for a quality counterfeit bill. I don't think sufficient bill-like materials are any more scarce than the high-grade plastics these guns need, not to mention bullets and gunpowder.
- samstave 13y ago
  Hmm... I am not willing to research if counterfeiting materials are indeed more easily available than I believed. :)
- stcredzero 13y ago
  > I don't think sufficient bill-like materials are any more scarce than the high-grade plastics these guns need Actually, in the past that paper and the presses were hard to get undetectably. This is changing as more and more of the world achieves higher levels of industrial infrastructure.
saraid216 13y ago
A quick Google found me this: http://www.secretservice.gov/money_detect.shtml http://www.secretservice.gov/money_detect.shtml While the legitimacy of the page is kinda um... I'm not convinced, it does suggest that the hard part of counterfeiting is in printing quality.

revelation 13y ago

The idea of software in a printer preventing you from printing counterfeit currency is ridiculous. These things (and similar nonsense in Photoshop et al) have only served to annoy graphic designers. The only thing "protecting" real money is the many embedded, hard to replicate patterns and markers. Of course, you can't put the genie back in the bottle with how guns work. You can't write software that will prevent anyone from printing gun parts, as if there was a way for the software to tell intentions from abstract 3D shapes.

Turing_Machine 13y ago
Right. Prohibiting 3D printers from making shapes with through-holes (i.e., a barrel) would be somewhat...limiting.
dexen 13y ago
> The idea of software in a printer preventing you from printing counterfeit currency is ridiculous. ...but it works well enough. It is embedded in certain graphics program and in (computer-driven) printer/copiers for office use. Not sure about printer drivers, but probably just as well. The tech behind it is quite simple, actually: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EURion_constellation http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EURion_constellation However, I can't imagine any similar solution working for 3D print. When one tries to copy bank notes, the `EURion constellation' is there, included by the issuer. However, when trying to print third-party designed 3D item, if the designer did not bother with including any protective markings, those simply won't be there.
dllthomas 13y ago
"[...] as if there was a way for the software to tell intentions from abstract 3D shapes." That sounds more interesting than it probably should...

stcredzero 13y ago

> The analogous technological situation is with color printers and counterfeiting money. Computer programming, hacking, and reverse engineering are just as analogous. > When the 3d printing industry reaches some sort of maturity, IF it ever goes mainstream, similar measures will be instituted. Unfortunate if true, and just as futile as "attached magazine" laws.