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Mint, New Delhi Leslie D'Monte columnMar 12, 2013 (Mint - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- Imagine a three-dimensional, or 3D printer, depositing layer on layer of a specific material to print a real firearm. Now stop imagining. This will soon be a reality and we can't say we were caught by surprise given the potential uses of 3D printers that not only make jewellery and toothbrushes but also football boots, racing car parts, airplanes, houses and even custom-designed cakes--thus promising to change the way we manufacture goods and do business. Cody Wilson, a law student at the University of Texas and founder of a non-profit organization called Defense Distributed, who spoke about his process for 3D printing guns at SXSW 2013 (being held at Austin, Texas) on 11 March, believes the project might change the way we think about gun control and consumption. "How do governments behave if they must one day operate on the assumption that any and every citizen has near instant access to a firearm through the Internet " he asks rightly, since his is a Creative Commons project, implying anyone can download a file and print it to make a firearm. Defense Distributed has chosen the RepRap printer as the platform for this. Wilson, on his website, does explain that his project imagines firearms only at their most essential. "These guns will be almost completely plastic, so melting and failing in your hand will be a concern. Only after a battery of testing the best designs to failure will we find the way to rate a WikiWep as safe for one use," reads the website. It adds, "we want to minimize negative media about the safety concerns of untested firearms and the inevitable suggestion that government agencies are necessary to protect us from ourselves." On 16 January, US Congressman Steve Israel (D-Huntington) called for the renewal of a revamped Undetectable Firearms Act that includes the ban of 3D printed, plastic high-capacity magazines. The existing ban on plastic guns in the US expires in 2013 and does not clearly cover magazines. Israel cautioned that background checks and gun regulations will do little good if criminals can print high-capacity magazines at home. He acknowledged that 3D printing is a new technology that shows great promise, but also requires new guidelines. Law enforcement officials should have the power to stop high-capacity magazines from proliferating with a Google search, he said. The concern becomes acute as the prices of 3D printers continue to fall. Industrial-size 3D printers cost up to half-a-million dollars, while low-end personal-scale 3D printers cost less than $1,000. In India, DesignTech Systems Ltd, a distributor of Stratasys, launched uPrint, a personal 3D printer, in June 2009. Open-source 3D printers such as Pwdr, a powder-based rapid prototyping machine, are ready for 3D printing, according to information on its website. Building a Pwdr Model 0.1 machine costs about euro 1,000 at present. In sum, new technologies will continue to confound governments and policymakers with their manifold applications, not all of which are essentially society-friendly. With the proliferation of 3D printing, guns made through this process can't be taken lightly. How will governments, for instance, solve issues such as online or offline licences for such firearms or other measures that may including monitoring of Internet Protocol (IP) addresses for misuse of this publicly available data Will governments censor such moves that could result in stifling Internet innovation There are no easy answers but a broad framework built by government bodies, academics, companies and Internet activities around technologies that are being nurtured in labs will surely go a long way in addressing the issue. ___ (c)2013 the Mint (New Delhi) Visit the Mint (New Delhi) at www.livemint.com Distributed by MCT Information Services |