zlacker

>>ptorro+(OP)
I think it's interesting to note that not only is there precedent for this type of "blocking technology that prevents the printing of certain things"[1], but it's also inconsequential and uncontroversial enough that most of the people here obviously have never even heard of it.

We lost the ability to print $50 bills with our HPs[2] and it had no noticeable negative impact on society. I'm not sure why losing the ability to print a gun with our Prusas will be any different.

[1] - https://www.scienceabc.com/eyeopeners/cant-photocopy-scan-cu...

[2] - https://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Printers-Archive-Read-Only/Won...

>>slg+CN1
Huge, important distinctions:

Manufacturing firearms is not unlawful in the State of New York, nor is it unlawful federally.

As far as I can tell, there is no federal or state law that compels any company to add features like the ones HP has added to their products. I have not spent a large amount of time researching. Just browsed a few articles like this one https://www.itestcash.com/blogs/news/your-guide-to-federal-c....

>>propel+884
I'll point out that I didn't mention the law in my first comment. I don't know the history of how this technology came to be so ubiquitous, so I didn't speak to it. However, from the perspective of a consumer, it doesn't really matter if it was due to regulation from the government or a collective decision of manufacturers to regulate themselves before the government intervened. The end result is still that the printer you buy from the local Best Buy will almost certainly block this. That is the precedent I was referencing and the collective loss that has gone unnoticed.

I also don't see the point about manufacturing firearms as particularly convincing. It was a process that used to be more difficult and technology has made that process substantially easier. It's reasonable for a government to think the old process didn't need regulation due to that complexity while the new technology intensifies the problem enough for a government response. New technology prompts new regulation all the time for exactly this reason.