3D Printer a threat to public safety if abused – Ex-CID chief

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KUALA LUMPUR: 3D Printing, the printing of a plan into a plastic model, has opened a creative option for commerce and knowledge but can be a threat to public security if abused.

In the latest development, certain quarters in the United States had provided plans for the construction of firearms which could be printed from the website and this has triggered anxiety among numerous parties including in Malaysia.

Former Bukit Aman (Federal Police) CID chief Tan Sri Zaman Khan Rahim Khan told Bernama the governments of the world must have a system to control the digital technology machine which is capable of threatening their security.

He said the technology might be beneficial to all but without tight control, would allow those criminally inclined to turn out something detrimental by flooding the world with firearms.

He was commenting on the 3D Printer, a manufacturing equipment which turns a three dimensional file image as input to be interpreted into a physical product using plastic.

The ink used to build the printed object is made from ‘acrylonitrile butadiene styrene’ which is also the same plastic material used to make children’s toys.

The machine is sold in Malaysia for RM4,000 to RM7,500 each.

What is more shocking, a video on You Tube showed a Canadian man who successfully shot 14 rounds from a gun produced from a 3D Printer. Will this force the government of the United States to do a rethink and ban it from be uploaded online?

Meanwhile, Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) strategic communication chief Sheikh Raffie Abd Rahman said MCMC always monitored videos which were uploaded online and that could be threats to public or national security. — Bernama