About that idiot wanting to ban print-your-own magazines, Updated

I was reminded in comments of something.  For years this gentleman caused serious heartburn to the Brit authorities.  Not because he actually built anything illegal; because he put plans together and ran this site.

Update: received this:
He did actually build and test fire his first one - to prove it could be done
He'd also written it up, and got a photographer "friend" to take some pictures of it.
According to one of the American guys whom he was in email contact with, it was the photographer who snitched.
...
For the victimless activity of building, testing and writing up, he got 5 years in a high security prison with a bunch of murderers and other hardened criminals.

After his second period of custody, and at the stage where he was dying from cancer, I gather he was even banned from having access to the internet.

A quick search of his name (use "duck duck go" or "startpage" search engines) will bring up news paper reports which show that those with "authoriteh" certainly applied the principle of sippenhaft (blood guilt) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sippenhaft to his family.

For which they harassed the hell out of he and his family, including putting him in jail at least once.  Again, not for actually doing anything, except for daring to put this stuff in the public eye.  One of the things the last years that have soured me on that place where Great Britain used to be.

I'm putting the whole comment here(bold mine):
The late Papa. Mike. Lima Uniform Tango Yankee, and his "expedient" and "BSP" (Britrish Standard Pipe fitting) series of designs and the books covering them, made DIY a possibility for everyone.

His intention was to demonstrate the futility of bans, and to demonstrate to those who doubted his claims of just how easy DIY could be.

I've seen comments in several places by people claiming that they were approached by British bureaucrats for their views on how home workshops could be licensed.

very much a case of bolting the stable door after the horse had escaped - the designs required only a few everyday hand tools to make, hand tools which are everywhere

That the bureaucrats even thought of licensing home workshops, in order to ensure the licensing and control of who has guns - shows a degree of fear

fear of ordinary people - what reason do they have to fear ordinary people so much? they clearly have some reason...

Their treatment of the author and of his family friends and e book customers also speaks of fear and vindictiveness.

Those 3d printing guys just stoked that to a new level

even if 3d printers and their consumables were to be registered, the idea and the designs are out there - and the bureaucrats fear and hate that.