Judge Tosses Policy Allowing Shares of 3D Printed Gun Blueprints Online

On Tuesday, a federal judge struck down a deal that allowed 3D-printed gun files to be legally shared online. Here's the story of how this multiyear drama unfolded:

2013: Texas-based Defense Distributed, a nonprofit founded by a crypto anarchist, announces it's made the world's first fully 3D-printed gun. It plans to upload blueprints online. The Obama State Department says "uh, no, this violates arms export law" and demands the blueprints be removed from the web.

2015: Defense Distributed and the Second Amendment Foundation sue the State Department and a few officials.

Last year: The Trump Department of Justice quietly settled with Defense Distributed, allowing it to put the blueprints online.

This week: U.S. District Judge Robert Lasnik deems that deal illegal.

Defense Distributed wants to democratize digital, personalized gunsmithing. A spokesperson told Bloomberg it will appeal on free speech grounds.

Bottom line: As I've written before, distributed technology poses new challenges for law enforcement. This includes decentralized manufacturing (3D printing) and distributed computing (the dark web and cryptocurrencies).