from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defense_Distributed
"Defense Distributed is an online, open-source, non-profit[2] organization that is attempting to design a firearm, called a Wiki Weapon,[5][6][7] that may be downloaded from the internet and "printed" with a 3-D Printer.[5] Among the organization's goals is to develop and freely publish design schematics[8] that would enable "a working plastic gun that could be downloaded and reproduced by anybody with a 3D printer."[9]
After raising over US$20,000 via a crowd-funding appeal,[5][9] suffering the confiscation of its first 3D printer,[10] and partnering with private manufacturing firms,[11] the organization has begun live fire testing of printable firearm components.[12][13]"
They've come pretty far for 6 months of work...
"According to the Defense Distributed website, the nonprofit is organized and operated for charitable and literary purposes, specifically "to defend the civil liberty of popular access to arms as guaranteed by the United States Constitution and affirmed by the Supreme Court, through facilitating global access to, and the collaborative production of, information and knowledge related to the 3D printing of arms; and to publish and distribute... such information and knowledge in promotion of the public interest."[2][11] The websites's “Manifesto” page presents a string of quotations from American and British historical figures than can be broadly read to support the right to arms and freedom of speech.[5][18]
The organization’s motivations have been described as "less about [a] gun... than about democratizing manufacturing technology,"[19] but to date, the only direct explication of Defense Distributed’s purpose has been in a speech given by Wilson at a Bitcoin conference in London.[20]
In an interview with Slashdot, Cody Wilson discussed the organization’s Wiki Weapon project as a chance to "experiment with Enlightenment ideas… to literally materialize freedom.”[21]"
3D printers may/can/should be like color printers today - found in every house or business in 5-10 years, these guys predict.
"Defense Distributed is an online, open-source, non-profit[2] organization that is attempting to design a firearm, called a Wiki Weapon,[5][6][7] that may be downloaded from the internet and "printed" with a 3-D Printer.[5] Among the organization's goals is to develop and freely publish design schematics[8] that would enable "a working plastic gun that could be downloaded and reproduced by anybody with a 3D printer."[9]
After raising over US$20,000 via a crowd-funding appeal,[5][9] suffering the confiscation of its first 3D printer,[10] and partnering with private manufacturing firms,[11] the organization has begun live fire testing of printable firearm components.[12][13]"
They've come pretty far for 6 months of work...
"According to the Defense Distributed website, the nonprofit is organized and operated for charitable and literary purposes, specifically "to defend the civil liberty of popular access to arms as guaranteed by the United States Constitution and affirmed by the Supreme Court, through facilitating global access to, and the collaborative production of, information and knowledge related to the 3D printing of arms; and to publish and distribute... such information and knowledge in promotion of the public interest."[2][11] The websites's “Manifesto” page presents a string of quotations from American and British historical figures than can be broadly read to support the right to arms and freedom of speech.[5][18]
The organization’s motivations have been described as "less about [a] gun... than about democratizing manufacturing technology,"[19] but to date, the only direct explication of Defense Distributed’s purpose has been in a speech given by Wilson at a Bitcoin conference in London.[20]
In an interview with Slashdot, Cody Wilson discussed the organization’s Wiki Weapon project as a chance to "experiment with Enlightenment ideas… to literally materialize freedom.”[21]"
3D printers may/can/should be like color printers today - found in every house or business in 5-10 years, these guys predict.
