Assignment 5: Company Profile Defense Distributed

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Chapman Ryan Chapman [email protected] April 22, 2015 15-294 Assignment 5: Company Profile Defense Distributed History: The organization was founded on July 27, 2012 by Cody Wilson. Location: The organization is based out of Texas and is made up of several students, engineers, and programmers from the United States and Germany. The people who download the files make their products. The website is currently www.defdist.org. Type of Sales: The products are 3D printable files (STL files) that can be downloaded by anyone and 3D printed. Significant Products: The most significant products that Defense Distributed provides include a durable lower receiver for an AR-15, magazines for the AR-15 and for the AK-47, and a completely printable 3D printable gun called the Liberator. Ownership: The organization is a nonprofit corporation that is donor-funded. Thus, there is no owner and they are not publicly traded. Acquisitions: The organization has not been purchased, or been purchased by, any other company. Financials: The organization is nonprofit so it is hard to say what the company is worth. There are no annual sales and funding is provided solely from individual donors. 1 Chapman Competitors: There are some other organizations that are also producing gun parts for 3D printing, but they are not considered competition because these organizations are not contending with Defense Distributed for revenue. These companies include Oceania Defense Ltd., Rapid Advanced Manufacturing, Solid Concepts, FOSSCAD members, and WarFairy. Funding: The organization initially raised over $20,000 through crowd funding but the funds were return to the donors because of the controversial nature of the project. Defense Distributed managed to secure enough capital to rent a Stratasys 3D printer but its was taken back when Stratasys found out what the organization was planning to print. The organization partnered with two Texas manufacturers that would let them print the gun parts. The company began live fire testing the firearm components in December 2012. Future: After a difficult start, the organization continues to produce more firearm components. As 3D printers become cheaper and widely available, more people will download and print the gun parts. The future of the organization looks bright because the consumer base will be expanding and there will be more demand for parts. This demand is limited by government oversight however, where the legality of distributed untraceable firearm parts is questioned. 2 .

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Government Censorship of 3D-Printed Firearms and a Proposal for More Reasonable Regulation of 3D- Printed Goods
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