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this post was submitted on 12 Mar 2024
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Maybe they're trying to justify the stupidity of that ban. I'm still shaking my head over that, it's like nobody bothered to ask the question "does this thing actually do the thing we're mad about?"
Given how often it happens in other industries, it wouldnt surprise me to find out that someone, somewhere along the line has an agenda to push and are trying to lump certain things into the same category as a thing people aren't supposed to like in order to get the thing that's only kind of related banned.
Heck, I personally know people who want 3d printing to be banned because "you can 3d print guns". I can make a gun with a trip to the hardware store and a few hours. The extra hours are to make sure I can use it more than once. I'm just using this as an example, it's not quite the same.
I also know people who have seen the drone headlines for Ukraine and give me the side eye when I mention I have a drone and can build my own at home. One coworker has even asked why I "need" to build drones and that having a bunch of hardware to do stuff like that is "sketchy". Drones are already being regulated into the ground over a few high profile incidents. And some try to lump rc devices into the same category. Sorry I can't fly my 8oz foam plane here, it's in the same class as 200lb agricultural drones with 12 rotors and I need special FAA authorization. You can build an ultralight aircraft in your garage and fly it across country without running it by anyone first, though.
I rambled a bit but my point is every time you see things being lumped together and you're scratching your head as to why, ask yourself "who wrote/published/shared this, who are they affiliated with, and do they have a reason to want one of these things or similar products regulated" and you'll see a surprising amount of shady bs going on that's all perfectly legal.
People are weird. In my area, saying you run Linux because you hate ad tracking and don't have a Facebook account makes people think you're a child molester.
And the 3D printing thing is crazy. I've had 3D printers for well over a decade because I started out building my own before you could buy them, printed thousands of parts of varying degrees of toughness, but I would be damned if I would ever shoot a gun I printed off of one. I haven't heard a word about banning lathes and mills though.
I just ignore the drone thing, our nearest neighbor is 2 miles away so I do what I want. I built a crop scouting drone that goes for a tour every morning and flies a 7 mile route unmonitored. Never heard a word about it from the neighbors.
It's so weird how a lot of society went from "WOAH, government can't use these things to track me, I have a right to privacy!" to "WOAH, you try not to be tracked by every single company on the planet and 16 major governments? What are you some kinda criminal?"
I can tell you from experience you can use a garage worth of basic tools to make a gun, but not one that will be "print, assemble, fire" without extra parts.
I'd say about 4/10 times I go flying my 240g drone in the local park someone comes over to tell me I'm breaking the law. Weirdly they can never name a specific one, and it's always just "the law says you cant use that here". Never had cops called yet. Mostly people want to ask me how much it was and how I like it. A few have asked if I've tried dropping "something the size of a baseball" from it.
I have a buddy who works in a bank, says a ton of ag loans these days are for drones and renewable energy equipment. Even the owner of the field I live next to has one. I think it lives in his shed, it has 8 rotors. Looks like it could lift a skinny short person. I have exactly 0 concerns they will use it to spy on me or drop explosives on my house.
I'd love to have a drone with thermal/night vision. We get a lot of animals around here and I'd like to be able to see them (and figure out what they all are) without spooking them.
The lathe & knee mill thing is being nibbled away under the ‘ghost gun’ fears - yes 80% is a weird line in the sand but we have to define it somewhere between “non-descript block of metal” to “legally now a gun”. Not sure how that’s going to survive legal test, the law there needs a refresh tbh
I’m really more surprised to see 3D printing not being targeted/trolled by copyright and IP lawyers. There was some limited activity with Games Workshop and people scanning wargaming miniatures to cheaply 3D print instead of paying (exorbitant) retail prices, but hasn’t gone far beyond banning non-official minions at official events
What is the thing used for?
It can sniff radio packets, so if you have a ridiculously simple security system using RFID, you can record the pattern it emits off a tag when its pinged and play it back to defeat a security system. But no vehicle since the 90s has used a single code system that it would be able to defeat, so it's useless for that.
The way thieves are defeating car locks is when the car listens for a fob within it's security range (like the ones that unlock when you walk up with a fob in your pocket), and if people leave their keys close to a wall where the radio signal can be boosted so it reaches the car, it'll pop the locks. The unit they banned, which is opensource and easily built from components you can get from Digikey or Mouser anyway, can't do this. A common radio repeater or SDR can do this but banning that would be ridiculously onerous on industry.