Can Open Source be giving comfort to the enemy?

I'm posting this because I feel honestly conflicted about something that's come up. As readers of this blog know, one of my side projects is making Unmanned Aerial Vehicles ("drones") and the technology that goes into them. Everything I do is open source, and I share it all at DIYDrones.com. There are also loads of other open source UAV projects, led by amateurs from Germany to Australia.

People often think of UAVs as military tools, whether as spy planes or Hellfire-launching robot weapons. We're hoping to change that perception by showing how useful UAVs can be for everything from commercial geomapping to scientific sensing. But the UAV-as-weapon concern is persistent, and many people have asked whether we, by making the technology available and easy to use, might be inadvertently be helping our enemies.

My usual response is that the technology is out there anyway, and by doing things in public we're just making it easier for authorities to know what's possible and who's working on it. Hezbollah already has UAVs, after all, and the technologies we use (which range from cellphones to Lego) are hardly export-controlled.

But all that came to a head today when I read the main UAV newsgroup, and  saw that Amir Aalipour, an Iranian in Tehran, had posted some pictures of his swing-wing UAV (shown), proudly bedecked with the colors of the Iranian flag. He's been following the discussion in these forums for some time and now wanted to come forward with his own impressive work.

Part of me says "Bravo Amir! Excellent work on the airframe, and thanks for posting." And part of me says "Yikes. We're helping Iranians make UAVs draped in nationalistic colors. This isn't going to help us in our efforts to destigmitize drones."

Obviously Iranian != terrorist/bad guy/anti-Israeli zealot. And needless to say, most of the terrorist/bad guy/anti-Israeli zealots out there who are building UAVs aren't posting on RC Groups. But what should I do if Amir or someone like him from a country associated with Bad Stuff posts on our own forums looking for technical advice? My instinct is to treat everyone alike and help anybody who asks, regardless of where they're from (odds are Amir is just a geek like the rest of us, no matter where he lives). But how does this look to someone in Washington? We're just a pen stroke away from being regulated out of existence, and in this climate it's politically unwise to discount the Homeland Security card (my own feelings about that notwithstanding).

I know, that's an ignorant, xenophobic and paranoid reaction. And my first instinct is to pay nationality no mind. But as I say, I'm conflicted on this. What would you do?

[UPDATE: Amir himself responds in the comments. He's 17 years old. Which makes what he's done all the more impressive.]

Comments

[Roberto Galoppini]

I believe that "Open Source" can benefit just all, as clearly written in the definition. As you might know once upon a time an North-American university was wondering to deliver free software with an "ethical" license, not allowing South-Africa to use it. The changed their mind, and I believe there is no other option than that: make it open or not.

[Gibbon1]

"Iran is actually one of the more internally conflicted countries these days, with a citizenry that is in many ways progressive and modernized and at odds with its leaders"

One of us! One of us!

The only reason why Iran is an 'enemy' is they have oil and aren't our lackeys. Oh and that hostage thing. Me I don't think that the above are good enough reasons to think of Iran as an enemy. They aren't really in any position to screw us over and they have much to lose. So essentially they won't, nuclear weapons or not, missiles or not. And they haven't, witness Iraq where they aren't screwing us over. (Probably wisely thinking that we're doing a good enough job all by ourselves.)

And certainly Iranians --> very low probability of being any sort of terrorist/bad actor. You want than go to the deeply creepy madhouse that is Saudi Arabia. Me, I'd go to Iran, I'd never go to Saudi Arabia.

That said it's a good for people world wide to reach out and make friends with other people with common interests because that is where true security lies, not with weapons, borders, and fear.

[Wulffy]

Amir:

That is a very novel and exciting airframe concept. Kudos for thinking outside of the box with the swing wing arrangement!

To everyone else:

As a former US Marine, I embrace the Freedom that Amir is exercising. It is exactly what I fought for when I was in the service of my nation's military, and what we were fighting to protect, in another...

[Jamey]

I think a lot of people are missing the point of this blog post - he's not really that worried about Amir, he's worried about the US Government's reaction to Amir. He's worried about someone at the DoHS showing up with legal paperwork and a gun saying "Give us every computer in this house, and never touch a computer on the Internet or we'll put you in Guantanamo Bay for the rest of your life." I can see where the concern comes from. Personally, I think we should have gone into Iraq long before we did - but a lot of the other reactions to 9/11, especially on the domestic front, were ineffective, counter-productive, and generally of questionable legality to start with. People keep forgetting that in giving any government more power, there's no *REAL* way to constrain how that power is used, especially under the US system, and especially with the growth in people who believe that the vote of the majority automatically makes something right.

[Some guy]

I think you should quietly arrange for the NSA or the DIA to get an RSS feed of your site, if not a full daily mirror of all the comments.

[...]

^^^ Get a life ^^^. Puh-lease...

[Peter]

>"Oh for crying out loud. "Obviously Iranian != terrorist/bad guy/anti-Israeli zealot". Uh, no. Most of the people in Iran are NOT like that, just like most of the people in the US are not warmongers, just because our president is. This is a kid who want to make a cool UAV! Give him a hand!"

I hope you realize that "!=" means "is not equal to".

[Macboffin]

"Some guy" picks on "mass arrests of people not confirming to Islamic dress code". Shows that people don't like the Government line! As for "murderous thugs", you
mean like My Lai? Like the "Turkey Shoot" of thousands of beaten and retreating troops in the desert? Guantanamo so not responsible to American Law? Refusal to recognise the World Court in case of being held to account for numberless dirty deeds, "Special Rendition" for example.
People who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones!
But it's a Christian nation, right? So Crusades are O.K. How about one agaisnst the thoroughly corrupt and nasty Saudi Arabia? Thats where the 9/11 guys were from, not Iraq or Iran.

[jeniffer]

http://www.thelongtail.com/

[Clair Ching]

Open Source, in a sense, is giving comfort to whoever wants it and welcomes it. It is something that goes beyond borders and political affiliations. And that way, it levels the playing field because the tools and the information would be the same for whoever needs it or wants it.

In any case, I think that it's a case of person to person interaction rather than nationalism so why should you think of a person as an enemy immediately because he is a national of Iran/name the country which is the enemy of your country? Just a question.

[prunes]

For all anyone knows, this guy opposes the Iranian state.

Just because someone dislikes neocons doesn't prevent them from using the red, white, and blue, does it?

[Amir]

Hi to all.
Im amir again.
I am not in Tehran. Im in Ahwaz city that is in west and sout of iran.
I designed it and create it with very low tools. now i want to add the OS engine co and Futaba RC in my weblog to have some money to finish the autopilot for my UAV.
My UAV is personal use to give me better knowlege.
i like go to Univercity but univercity in iran is for reach people that can get best educations for that examing.
if any say to me a terrorist that is in very bad incorect. Im only a persian that i love our history.
our history Shown in 300 film or say better zoo (300) was a big lie.
Amir Aalipour
Best regards
AMIR SAY FRIENDLY HELLO TO ALL HIS GLOBALS FRIEND SO WAS ENEMY OR FRIEND.

[Martin Haeberli]

Chris,

As always, thought provoking! BTW, my mental "spell checker" suggests: "destigmatize" vs "destigmitize", or perhaps: "de-stigmatize"

Best,

Martin

[Rufus Polson]

An awful lot has already been said.
One thing that occurs to me is the unthinking assumption of American technical superiority. Frankly, it's been a few years now since the US was a technological leader in most nonmilitary fields, and the trend is strengthening. Open source strikes me as less likely to help the "bad guys" catch up with you than to keep you guys from falling too far behind. Homeland Security should thank you. But if the fortress (for everyone except the multinationals) mentality does catch on, it seems likely to end more with the US as ghetto than with the US as envied hoarder of valuable intellectual property. Unfortunately, as a Canadian I'm likely to be dragged into that ghetto along with you guys.

That said, I can understand your frisson of uncertainty upon seeing the Iranian flag on that UAV. I know I have an instinctive "Urk!" reaction upon seeing the American flag. And then I remind myself that lots of perfectly cool people are Americans and they don't have any other flag available. Considering how much less harm Iran has ever done in the world than the US, you might also want to get over it. As to fears of Homeland Security--well, I suppose it depends on just to what extent the US remains the Land of the Free. But it occurs to me that if you start censoring your activities based on the fear that if you don't, the authorities might curtail them, then you have gotten rid of your own freedom to save anyone the trouble of doing it for you. At least make them do the dirty work themselves--don't give it away for free.

[David Tremblay]

PFFRRRTTTT

Iranian colored DIY UAVs are an answer to all "sharks with freakin' laser straped on their head" and other squirrel spies, http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/07/20/280529.aspx

Seriously

Iran is definitively not what you think ! Not the evil your government want it to be, you are eating too much of this anti-islamic propaganda.

The world does not need another religious war ...

[Ehab Heikal]

Moral Issues

What if your designs are used by your own country to wage war on others, would you be alarmed?
Life is sacred, all life is sacred. Whether killing people on "Your" side or on the "Other" side, both are humans of your same species.
If you are worried that your technology can be used for the destruction of life or helping the destruction of life then it is not an issue what side you are on. The issue is killing.

On my site, I write on the footer we "are against all forms of violence" both terrorism and state sanctioned war. The Napolean the admired ruler-general was in reality just a muderous thug. Being a president or being state sanctioned is meaning when it comes to killing.

As to the statement that there is no bad technology only bad people that use it. Weapons of mass destruction, are bad, their technology is evil. Atomic enegry for example can arguably be said to be a good thing but when you study how to best use it to maximize loss of human life you cross the boundry and make that specific learning and every thing associated with it evil.

There should not be an us and them in this time and age. We should realize that although we are different there is no real cause for us to go killing each other.

And no the so called terrorists did not start this war on terrorism, the meddleing in thier affairs to the point of creating opressive maddness is the root.

Any way, always think in technology does this technology create much more good than bad and am I presenting it in a way that makes it readily available to those that want to misuse it..

[hola]

mmmm i'm israeli and this doesn't seems right to me at all!
http://www.ynet.co.il

[Michael A. Banks]

And think of all the millions of kids who learned how to build stable ballistic rockets and calculate their trajectories, thanks to Orville Carlisle and G. Harry Stine's toys.

Some went multi-stage, and added payloads like cameras and sensors and relatime reporting on high-altitude conditions. Many others scaled up to LDRS (Large and Dangerous Rocket Ships) and beyond. I wonder whether I or Harry or anyone who's written how-to's on rocketry are responsbile for kids knowing how to place a payload (warhead) on target from a long distance?
--Mike

[Michael A. Banks]

In addenda: Harry and I never got into telling people how to mix fuel (though each of us experimented separately, years apart. And Harry was an engineer at White Sands in the aarly 1950s). It's obvious from Lucerne, LDRS, etc. that plenty of people figured that out on their own. beginning in the 1980s. After which cottage industries creating rocket propellant and motors sprang up.

To answer the question posed in my preceding post, I believe that clubs and commercial entities devoted to model rocketry and model aircraft and radio experimentation are "responsible" for getting more people involved in rocketry and UAV activities than would have been involved otherwise. (Blame part of this on Hugo Gernsback!)

And somehwere out there, someone is experimenting with the R/G (rocket glider) concept as a means of getting a UAV to altitude.

(Come to that ... a B/G [boost glider] configuration might work better to get a UAV with undeployed wings to altitude.)
--Mike
http://www.michaelabanks.com
(Apologies that I sometimes transpose the letters in UAV.)

[Paul Morriss]

As an aside, if you search the BBC news website for "drone" you'll find it being used by the police here in the UK.

[Alice]

Have a long think first about how 'non-oppressive' the USA is, including to women, people of colour, innocent Iraqis (and many other nationalities, recently bombed), immigrants, non-heterosexuals, etc, ad nauseam.

Freedom of information and access to knowledge is freedom for *all*, and the only way to ever hope for peace.

Well done Amir, well done!

[Luis]

Your instinct is right, please follow it.

Real questions are whether to publish, whether to answer enquiries on the topic, whether you'll get in trouble, etc. Separate topics.

These questions pre-date Amir, and have nothing to do with the colors on his plane. Re-visiting these questions due to Amir's post is not a good look.

[anonymous]

I am sure you already know this, but this is not an issue of whether you think Amir is a front for some terror group or that he is an 17 yo. The issue is different, it is simply that when you are communicating with Amir on this subject you are contravening U.S. law (i.e. either ITAR or Commerce Dept. Export restriction.) It is simple.
Now if you think this is not OK, you need to change the law.

[Francis Hamit]

Dear Chris:

My concern here is whether or not Amir is really Amir. I have some intelligence background. 17 is not too young to be a spy.
That's the same age Belle Boyd was when she began her very successful career for the Confederate Secret Service in 1861. More recently, during World War II, the O.S.S. had at least one 16 year old agent in Germany at the War's end. The kid's cover was Hitler Youth, which gave him great mobility since they had taken over most of the minor policing such as traffic control.

The fact is that you don't know who you are really talking to and UAV technology is very sensitive stuff. Open source or not, it's not something to be shared lightly. The next generation includes what most people think of as model airplanes, but tricked out with surveillance gear; not just for photos, but also listening and MASINT devices. I have an old article online about this, which may be a bit dated but is a pretty good overview and also talks about commercial applications. Those will be delayed because of the war.

He sounds like a great kid. Very appealing. But then, he would, wouldn't he? Social engineering at its finest.

[Noemi]

I am surprised that Amir was not more insulted by your post. As mentioned by others before, nationality and loving ones country should not be a reason to be thought a terrorist. Let's face it, it's really easy to camouflage yourself on the internet. If terrorists want information, they can easily pretend to be from a friendlier country.

I am surprised about you considering selectively censoring knowledge. Either you believe the information is not harmful enough or available elsewhere and you disseminate it to everyone or you believe it shouldn't be in the hands of individuals and you don't share it with ANYONE. Nationality should not be an issue. Who are you to judge? Where do you draw the line? etc. etc.

[Chris Anderson]

A surprisingly large number of commenters here seem to have missed the point of my post. It's not about how I feel personally about helping Amir--as I said, I'm instinctively drawn to doing so--it's about what the regulatory reaction would be to that.

My question was whether it was worth the risk that any open dialog with Amir would be used by some zealot in Washington to try to shut down amateur UAV efforts. Most of the public comments here have discounted that risk, but it's notable that most of the private emails to me have suggested that it's a very real concern.

-c

[Howard Owens]

What if the Wright Brothers had never flown?

Maybe we never would have had 9/11.

But then we never would have had commercial aviation.

Nuclear breakthroughs first gave us bombs, but later gave us energy.

My point is: Innovators don't get to control how their innovations are used. Either you innovate, or you don't. But you don't get to say, "you can't use this for bad stuff." You have to hope that in the long run, the good outweighs the bad.

[James R]

I'm just so glad the terrorists won't make us change our way of life. :-)

[maxhairloss]

Well, even if they are terrorists, maybe they might present some ideas that we never thought about and could eventually use against them. Hopefully in a positive manner. It all comes down to one's perception of the other, and I'm sure that some well meaning people on the other side think we are acting like terrorists as well.

[Martin]

I think peer to peer communications with people of different cultures is probably the greatest opportunity the internet has provided us with.

Check out Pangea Day, that sounds a great way of doing it.
http://www.pangeaday.org/

[Aamir Jan]

Hi,

I'm another Aamir but this time from Pakistan...

I just bought the book "The Long Tail" by Chris Anderson and visited his website. I was surprised to come across all this stuff about UAV's! Now I'm interested to know what (if any) are the commercial applications of these UAV's. If anyone wants to market them in Pakistan for commercial applications, do let me know.

Best Regards,
Aamir.

[Amir]

Hello to all
im Amir from iran, who designe and create that UAV.
Now i am very more sacciful at there! my personal UAV is very drffrent from 24 aquest that longtail write about it. now it has an Autopilot system that i and my friends designed it. i test it, it was very good. it can send only 1500 meters video but in future i want get it better. but the autopilot system can read GPS data and think aboat it then that system (autopilot) get do that which way is corect. autopilot system can think very good. it can recoughniz things are in the way and go over of that things cucifuly. we have 8 Fly test by autopilot. +in high speed if Autopilot found a bad mistake, it can swing the wings off.
more information in
www.drh-uav.mihanblog.com
best regards

[Jeremias]

Strange how you've missed the focus here and have, with subtlety, dislocated the gist of the issue: that your US government is ever aware and tracking the interactions and actions of its citizens. That you are *forbidden* to interact with a like-minded individual - or, at least, have a very real sense of the danger involved if you persist on that path - because your government has the strong hand. It can declare you an outlaw for sharing *ideas*. Little flying machines are no state secret, as an Israeli has said in this forum. Yet you are afraid...

Isn't that *amazing* ?! How did the US ever get to this sorry, fucked up, state of affairs ?!

This little situation here encompasses everything freedom-loving peoples and nations ever fought for.

Does the US really expect we, non-US citizens, watching this (and as some said - the internet is transnational), should believe all this bullshit about the US being a "beacon of Liberty, land of the Free" ?!

You are resembling more and more the Soviet State...I feel sorry for you guys. And it doesn't make me feel any better - because the arm of the US is long-reaching and its fist is made of iron. Blood flows from under it...

[kabin]

thanks...
Kabin
Konteyner