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Cody Wilson, 3D-Printed Gun Pioneer, Arrested In Taiwan (reason.com)
Cody Wilson, maker of the first 3D-printed plastic gun, has been arrested in Taiwan. Long-time Slashdot reader SonicSpike quotes Reason:
Earlier this week, Texas police issued a warrant for his arrest. Wilson, they claimed, found a woman on sugardaddymeet.com, a website that requires all users to assert they are 18 or over, then met her and paid for sex with her. Police say the woman was actually 16, which made that act a violation of Texas penal code 22.011 (A)(2)(a), regarding sex with a minor, which is legally considered sexual assault regardless of consent or payment.
While Taiwan has no formal extradition treaty with the U.S., and Wilson was not said to have been doing anything directly criminal in Taiwan, the press there reports that he was arrested without incident because the U.S. had revoked his passport, making his mere presence in Taiwan illegal. (The U.S. government has the power to revoke the passports of people facing felony arrest warrants.) Wilson was then, according to The New York Times, "delivered...to the National Immigration Agency" in Taiwan. It is expected to deport him to the U.S. to face those charges, which carry a potential 2 to 20 years in prison and $10,000 fine.
A reporter for Ars Technica visited Wilson's home weapons printing company, and was told that "A management restructuring is coming." But they also contacted Adam Bhala Lough, who directed and wrote a documentary film about Wilson. Prior to Wilson's arrest, Lough argued that "Without Cody, it can't last. It's like Tesla and Elon Musk, you can't separate the two.
"If he comes home and faces the music, there is a chance Defense Distributed will survive because it is a totally independent company without a board or any regulatory body. And the buyers of these products -- not to generalize, but at least the ones I met while doing the documentary -- they won't care about buying a product from an [accused] pedophile. In fact they may be even more emboldened by the idea that Cody was 'set-up' or that it is a 'deep-state conspiracy' against him, even if (or when) he admits to it."
While Taiwan has no formal extradition treaty with the U.S., and Wilson was not said to have been doing anything directly criminal in Taiwan, the press there reports that he was arrested without incident because the U.S. had revoked his passport, making his mere presence in Taiwan illegal. (The U.S. government has the power to revoke the passports of people facing felony arrest warrants.) Wilson was then, according to The New York Times, "delivered...to the National Immigration Agency" in Taiwan. It is expected to deport him to the U.S. to face those charges, which carry a potential 2 to 20 years in prison and $10,000 fine.
A reporter for Ars Technica visited Wilson's home weapons printing company, and was told that "A management restructuring is coming." But they also contacted Adam Bhala Lough, who directed and wrote a documentary film about Wilson. Prior to Wilson's arrest, Lough argued that "Without Cody, it can't last. It's like Tesla and Elon Musk, you can't separate the two.
"If he comes home and faces the music, there is a chance Defense Distributed will survive because it is a totally independent company without a board or any regulatory body. And the buyers of these products -- not to generalize, but at least the ones I met while doing the documentary -- they won't care about buying a product from an [accused] pedophile. In fact they may be even more emboldened by the idea that Cody was 'set-up' or that it is a 'deep-state conspiracy' against him, even if (or when) he admits to it."
No, this entire thing stinks of a set up. This is not to say that he didn't do what they claim. But it does look like a set up that he just walked into.
If nothing else, this proves that if you're going to be activist, you have to be aware that those that appose you are going to use any dirty trick they can to shut you down. And if you do something stupid your enemies are going to jump on your.
because a) their reasoning abilities aren't fully developed and b) they've got between 60-90 more years of life left and decisions made when you're 16 and unable to process the consequences will impact you for that time. It's got nothing to do with education and everything to do with our society progressing.
200 years ago we needed them cranking out babies ASAP because they were likely to die in their 30s. But even then folks knew there was something off with a man twice their age showing interest, but if the man had enough money folks looked the other way because of rampant poverty.
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Whether it's too low or too high is one discussion. Whether states should be allowed to make their own laws is a second discussion. Both of those are worthwhile discussions, with people of good faith making points on both sides. .
But no matter how you come down on those questions, Cody Wilson of Defense Distributed broke the law by buying an underage prostitute on a website that specializes in very young girls and then sexually assaulting her. After that, he ran away to Taiwan like a little bitch, knowing there is no extradition treaty, which suggests he's not generally ignorant of laws. Now, people may think he deserves a break because he's some libertarian, second amendment hero, but the fact is, the state of Texas is saying he's a rapist, and I always thought libertarians and second amendment activists believe individuals should be held accountable for their actions.
I highly doubt the State of Texas would have ginned up some conspiracy to bring charges against Cody Wilson. These aren't federal charges, after all. The far right-wing attorney general of Texas would probably have rather given him a medal, except he just had to go and fuck someone underage, so now he pays the price. Sometimes, I a creep is just a creep, whether it's a 17 year old who tries to rape a drunk 15 year old at some rich prep school party or a libertarian gun hero who gets off on underage girls. Not everything that doesn't go the way you'd like is a conspiracy.
You are welcome on my lawn.