NNSquad - Network Neutrality Squad
[ NNSquad ] A 3D-Printed Gun Meets the Streisand Effect
A 3D-Printed Gun Meets the Streisand Effect
http://lauren.vortex.com/archive/001029.html
Regular readers here and in other venues will know by now that I am a
very strong supporter of gun control legislation (now more popularly
called "gun safety" regulation for political correctness). Not only
that, I consider the NRA and its minions inside and outside of
government to be directly responsible for millions of innocent deaths
at the bidding of their gun merchant supporters. And that's just for
starters.
But even I can recognize bogosity when I see it.
By now you've probably heard about the downloadable plans for printing
a plastic gun on a (currently fairly expensive, but cheaper they will
continue to become) 3D printer.
After the simple gun was determined to essentially function as
designed, the plans were posted to the Web a couple of days ago.
Today comes word that, reportedly, the U.S. State Department has asked
the plans' distributor to remove them from the Net, while legal issues
are being explored. ( http://j.mp/1484uFB [Guardian] )
The parties involved have apparently complied.
But over 100K copies of those plans had already been downloaded.
You know where this is going.
The very act of attempting to bottle up this data has drawn far more
attention to the plans themselves than would otherwise likely have
been the case -- a textbook definition of the so-called "Streisand
Effect" in action, a phenomenon we've discussed here many times in the
past.
And of course, the plans themselves are still trivially available.
I found them -- intact and complete -- on a mirror site within 30
seconds, using an obvious three word search query, just a few minutes
ago.
Outside of the just plain uselessness of trying to block such
information after it has already been published -- how many times must
this truism be repeated? -- there are a couple of other obvious
ironies in play.
One is that just as attempts to censor the Net will almost always be
ultimately futile (but still potentially very damaging to individuals
or organizations caught up in those attempts), trying to control 3D
printing is almost certainly going to be equally (if not even more)
futile in the long run.
And the other irony? Who the hell needs to print a gun when the NRA
and its ilk have made it trivial for pretty much anyone, including the
mentally ill, people on the no-fly terrorism watch list, and basically
anyone else not carting around pressure-cooker bombs (and maybe them
too), to easily and legally purchase cheap, powerful, much more
effective weapons with a nod and a wink at any gun show -- no
background checks usually required!
So all around, from every angle, this whole story only serves to
demonstrate the depth of society's confusion regarding the Internet,
3D printing, and guns.
To paraphrase the inestimable "Firesign Theatre" -- I'm afraid we may
all be bozos on this bus.
--Lauren--
Lauren Weinstein (lauren@vortex.com): http://www.vortex.com/lauren
Co-Founder: People For Internet Responsibility: http://www.pfir.org/pfir-info
Founder:
- Network Neutrality Squad: http://www.nnsquad.org
- PRIVACY Forum: http://www.vortex.com/privacy-info
- Data Wisdom Explorers League: http://www.dwel.org
- Global Coalition for Transparent Internet Performance: http://www.gctip.org
Member: ACM Committee on Computers and Public Policy
Lauren's Blog: http://lauren.vortex.com
Google+: http://vortex.com/g+lauren / Twitter: http://vortex.com/t-lauren
Tel: +1 (818) 225-2800 / Skype: vortex.com
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