3-D Printing and Encryption

I posted a while ago about how countries in Europe are worried that people might begin using 3-D printers in order to produce their own firearms and circumvent strict gun laws. I quoted a New York Times article on the topic that said:

A Danish company, Create it REAL, which makes 3-D printers, says it might have another possible solution. It has developed software that looks for the characteristics of weapon designs and, when detected, blocks the printer from making a firearm. “If certain features align, the software will not allow the user to view and print the model,” Create it REAL says on its Web site.

In that post, I mentioned that I thought this might be an effective way to control the printing of guns.  In the United States, at least, this would avoid concerns of unconstitutional state regulation because of the private nature of the safeguard.  I noted that this response would not be a cure all, however, because the danger of people hacking the system was still a concern.

It looks like one way to get around this regulation has emerged.  At Forbes, Andy Greenberg reports about a new app that allows users to encrypt files containing the designs of objects that can be 3-D printed.  Greenberg describes how the app alters the images in the files and the upshot of this app:

That means any controversial file–say, a figurine based on Mickey Mouse or another copyrighted or patented shape, or the 3D-printable gun created earlier this year known as the Liberator–could be ‘encrypted’ and made available on a public repository for 3D-printing blueprints like the popular site Thingiverse without tipping off those who would try to remove the file.

As long as this type of encryption can be adapted to fool a printer, this type of encryption would be likely to get around the Create it REAL safeguards.