Trigger Warning: Why the 3D-Printed Gun Debate Matters to Crypto

The word "Publication" should give you a hint why, as the case highlights freedom-of-speech issues that may resurface in future attempts by governments to regulate crypto and distributed networks.

Stepping back, last week a federal judge issued a temporary restraining order against Defense Distributed, a company founded by the provocateur and crypto-anarchist Cody Wilson.

The relevance of Defense Distributed's current struggle to the blockchain world goes deeper than that coincidence.

The free-speech argument for code is not always a slam dunk in court, according to Aaron Wright, an associate clinical professor of law and director of the Blockchain Project at Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law at Yeshiva University.

"There's a notion in the crypto community that software is unimpeachably protected by the First Amendment. That's simply not the case," Wright said.

In their book "Blockchain and the Law: The Rule of Code," Wright and co-author Primavera De Filippi note that courts in the U.S. have already denied First Amendment protections for one kind of software because it "Had no purpose other than facilitating illegal gambling."

"If governments choose to regulate blockchain developers, some code may be protected by the First Amendment, while other code may not. For instance, decentralized e-commerce marketplaces used for the exchange of everyday items, but also potentially unlawful products ... could receive First Amendment protection ... because they facilitate both lawful and unlawful acts. Conversely, decentralized prediction markets and exchanges that facilitate the trading of binary options would likely be deemed to violate existing laws like the Commodities Exchange Act.".

The prohibitionists almost certainly can't stop innovation or adoption of either blockchains or home manufacturing altogether.

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