DEFCAD Takes Aim With Open Source 3D Printing Search Engine
The group known as DEFCAD have, up until today, been known primarily for their supply of downloadable CAD (read: 3D Printing) templates for firearms. This week they've announced that they're going full steam ahead with a DEFCAD search engine for 3D printable models of all kinds – and they need funding. If you're willing to toss a few bucks their way, they'll be willing to let you in on the final product once it exists: completely devoid of the censorship they maintain is running rampant.
At the moment, the DEFCAD crew host a single zip file that contains 50+ files for your easy printing-at-home entertainment. These pieces include pieces of guns, mostly, but exist in a way that – at the moment – is entirely legal. The whole show is powered by the group known as Defense Distributed, also known as the "home of the wiki weapon project."
The mission of Defense Distributed should not be mistaken for the mission of DEFCAD. With Defense Distributed, their aim is to "create the world's first 100% 3D printable gun." Meanwhile the mission statement for DEFCAD is more broad – their aiming to create a search engine for "all 3D printable files, not just innocuous trinkets and garden gnomes." With the release of DEFCAD in the future, it's said that the entirety of the project's source will be released on github under AGPL license. According to the DEFCAD collection of manifesto-like snippets, they do not aim to maximize profit with this venture.
"Like Wikipedia, nightly database mirrors will also be made available via BitTorrent. Our goal is not profit maximization, it is an end to the artificial scarcity of copyright, IP, and regulation." – DEFCAD
Also according to the DEFCAD set to mission statements, they're aiming to support hackers and veterans of foreign wars here in the USA – and 4chan, oddly enough.
"Hackers are persecuted by federal prosecutors while the basic needs of veterans go unmet. All purchases mediated by the defcad.com search engine will be rounded up to the nearest dollar; 50% of the proceeds will be donated to the VFW, and 50% will be donated to 4chan to support free speech on the internet."
The DEFCAD crew have made it clear that they oppose Google's methods in search and video limitations, love Makerbot but do not agree with the limits they've set with their own "Thingiverse" collection, and suggest that politicians across the board – across the world, even – will continue to oppose the free distribution of 3D printing models to everyday citizens without regulation.
DEFCAD says that they will go forth and create an environment where anyone with access to the internet can download templates for objects of all shapes and sizes, printable with easily accessible 3D printers. Have a peek at their "We the People" or "We WILL" statement here:
Laws were changed and political parties founded over Napster, Bittorrent, and The Pirate Bay...over music and movies. But with 3D printed firearms, pharmaceuticals, automobiles, drones, and medical devices, the stakes will suddenly get much higher. Because 3DP is not about reviving manufacturing jobs or competing with assembly lines on cost. It is not about disrupting manufacturing. It is about disrupting copyright, IP, and regulation. It is about printing items whose prices have been set to infinity. It is about disrupting man-made forms of artificial scarcity. It is about DEFCAD.
Sound like a good idea to you? Let us know what your stance is on a free and open 3D Printing file search engine, especially if you plan to fund DEFCAD – or oppose it with your whole heart.
[via DEFCAD]