The federal civil suit began more than five years ago when Cody Wilson and his group, Defense Distributed, published designs for the ' Liberator,' the world’s first 3D-printed handgun.

The State Department has also agreed to pay Defense Distributed's legal fees, which total nearly $40,000.

The settlement, which was signed in April but only took effect in late June, says that the DEFCAD files in question are 'approved for public release (unlimited distribution) in any form and are exempt from the export licensing requirements of the. It can be done in the clearnet and in the light of day and reputable places.' 'There isn't the need for the subterranean Dark Web. 'Basically the spin is different now,' he said. 'It's just now black letter law that you can traffick in this information,' Cody Wilson, the group’s founder, told Ars, noting that substantially not much will change given that the files have been available on torrent sites for years.

The group says it will resume publication on August 1, 2018, more than four years after its files were first removed. Further Reading Does it violate federal export law if a website publishes CAD files of firearms? Defense Distributed, the 3D-printing gun activist group, has secured a settlement with the Department of State that will enable it to legally distribute its CAD files of firearms on its DEFCAD website, putting an end to a years-long lawsuit.

3d printed gun stl file