Did You Know? Autodesk Fusion 360 Monitors Shared Files for Potential ITAR Violations

Apparently, Autodesk Fusion 360 performs censoring of some 3D models.

Readers may recall a story from earlier this week, where 3DPrinterOS announced a partnership with a university to develop a special algorithm to detect gun parts. The idea would be to implement the algorithm on 3DPrinterOS’ cloud network so that illegal weapon manufacturing could be detected.

They’re nowhere near implementation of this, as they are just starting development of the algorithm. Meanwhile, it seems that Autodesk already has something like this.

I came across a telling comment on a Reddit thread discussing someone’s design and print of a “fictional rifle”. The rifle, shown at the top, has quite an unusual design.

The discussion was quite routine, until contributor That_Car_Dude_Aus wrote:

“My only warning to you is to be careful where you share the files, even if you only made it as an aesthetic creation.

Autodesk watches for ITAR breaches, and they can and do contact you if they think you are breaching ITAR.

I made a skin using NERF Gun Intervals for a mate’s HALO Cosplay, shared it to his Fusion via Fusion’s Collaboration tool, he didn’t get the request, I tried 3-4 times, and then it locked me out of Fusion.

Then I got an email saying I would get a call from them, had someone from the Fusion legal department asking me what I was doing. He said they have AI that identifies what it thinks are Firearms and blocks cross-border collaboration without approval.

Once he had a look at it and we had a chat, he was all cool.

But they are watching.

They don’t want the fines involved, and if you love your dog, I’d be careful”

This is something I didn’t know about, and almost certainly most casual Autodesk Fusion 360 users don’t, either.

First, an explanation of ITAR. “International Traffic in Arms Regulations” is a set of US Department of State rules that govern the export of defense and military technologies. The idea is to prevent weaponry or associated tech from getting into the hands of the bad guys. This would apply to, say, fighter jets, but it also applies to lower-level weaponry.

Evidently, Autodesk has built detection of such items directly into Fusion 360. Note that the way it is implemented, at least according to the commenter, is that it triggers when files are shared. That aligns with the ITAR mission.

It would seem that you could use Fusion 360 for design for these parts, but not necessarily sharing them.

It’s also good to hear that they have a procedure to clear false positives, which worked out for the commenter. However, it may not work out for everyone affected.

I’m now wondering which other 3D CAD tools include similar detection functionality to maintain ITAR alignment.

Via Reddit