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Governments go anti-tech

Technology is great. It makes our lives easier, more productive and often a lot more fun.

As technology advances, regular folk are empowered to do things they could never do before and that opens up doors that were previously locked shut.

Unfortunately, it's starting to look as if many Western governments don't like the power that modern tech is bestowing on those who exist only to pay taxes (ie: regular folk).

Increasingly we're seeing laws and proposed laws that seek to restrict, control or even outlaw the very technology that brings so many benefits to the public.

Let's start with what would seem to be a pretty harmless and undoubtledly useful technology: 3D printing.

I have a 3D printer and using it, I have created a lot of really useful things. Everything from bespoke brackets to hold up curtain rails, new rubbery feet for one of those retro 1960's chrome kitchen-chairs the wife picked up for a song, a funnel and coffee-tamper for my Espresso machine, beefier handgrips for my exercise frame, and countless other project cases or bits for drones and RC planes.

This truly is fantastic technology but right now, in the USA, at least one state wants to restrict the use of this technology for what it claims are very valid reasons -- namely that they can be used to print gun parts.

Yes, New York State plans to introduce laws that would force 3D printer manufacturers to build-in restrictions that stopped their machines from printing parts for firearms. This would cover even benign components such as those which were not part of the firing mechanism, including trigger guards, brackets for mounting slings etc.

I would not be surprised if New Zealand followed suit after seeing this story in our media recently. Stories like this really annoy me because they give an ignorant public the impression that anyone with a 3D printer can download some plans from the internet and, within a few short minutes or hours, have a working firearm. Any gun owner will tell you that this is not going to happen. Some critical components (such as the barrel, receiver or firing pin) can not be made of plastic and attempts to print those bits would result in a gun more likely to injure or kill the user rather than the target.

This isn't the only tech under threat however.

In the UK, the government is working very hard to force companies to provide backdoors in any end-to-end encrypted messaging technologies. They claim it is so that images can be scanned for CSAM material and so that terrorists can't operate under the cloak of encryption.

These same lame-brained politicians also want to regulate the use of VPNs for the same reasons and to ensure that under-age users can't get access to content that is deemed unsuitable for minors.

Then there was the ban on the importation of drone parts into the USA that passed into effect just before Christmas. Already the US government has had to walk back some of those restrictions because they didn't adquately consult with those affected and the local industry, which this was supposed to empower, can't make drones without access to some foreign-made bits such as motors and batteries.

What's next on the politicians anti-tech radar?

Well once all the fanfare has died down, I would not be surprised if AI becomes highly regulated in private hands. It's already possible to build some pretty impressive LLM systems on regular desktop computer systems with a half-decent GPU. Those LLMs can operate without the safety-guards that publicly accessible systems employ so the ability to produce CSAM, deepfakes and other undesirable material is rife for exploitation so you can bet there will soon be laws restricting exactly what AI YOU can run and how.

Restricting the use of AI in private hands also helps empower big-tech and will make it easier for them to recoup the huge sums they're currently investing in their mega-datacentres. No doubt they will be lobbying hard for strict controls on private use, just as they've lobbied for no controls on their own use right now.

I truly have to wonder how long it will be before those of us who like to use, build, improve and develop leading-edge technology will be forced to register with governments so as to be put on a "potential offenders'" list for careful surveillance.

Footnote: A big thank you to all those who had some suggestions regarding my sciatica. I'm trying to respond to the emails but sometimes I forget that quite a few people read this column and a good percentage are as old as me -- hence have their own first-hand experience of the perils of aging that they're happy to share.

Carpe Diem folks!

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