Anyone want to bet that there are inventions that are great but would cost some people serious money and that’s why we’re not seeing them?
YSK: The Invention Secrecy Act is a US federal law authorizing the government to suppress disclosure of certain inventions for reasons of national security. 6,543 inventions are currently suppressed.
Submitted 1 month ago by cypherpunks@lemmy.ml to youshouldknow@lemmy.world
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invention_Secrecy_Act
Comments
mrductape@eviltoast.org 1 month ago
Manjushri@piefed.social 1 month ago
Not taking that bet. From the linked wikipedia page.
According to reporting in Wired and Slate, the United States Patent and Trademark Office has at times considered applying secrecy orders to inventions deemed disruptive to established industries.
You may be sure that there are times when they did more than consider it.
W3dd1e@lemmy.zip 1 month ago
It looks like they fuck over inventors.
Most of these appear to be for government projects such as with the Department of Defense and the NSA.
Sometimes, a regular invention outside of government contacts gets labeled with this and the government don’t pay for it. The inventor isn’t allowed to talk about it so they get fucked out of any income.
over_clox@lemmy.world 1 month ago
Oh good, apparently my late father’s Folding Crossbow isn’t a restricted patent…
patents.google.com/patent/US4926834A/en
I still posess the prototype, albeit a bit damaged now.
Stamau123@lemmy.world 1 month ago
that’s cool. Seems a bit ‘busy’ for something that should be foldable
over_clox@lemmy.world 1 month ago
Honestly it is a bit busy, like feature creep.
The lower stock and left bow are unfortunately now broken, but I want to do my best to restore it eventually.
I’ve already collected feathers and a new rifle scope, I just need an antique Volkswagen spring leaf…
Yeah you think this is a witch stew, but it isn’t. These are the parts I need to properly fix my dad’s invention.
the_q@lemmy.zip 1 month ago
Like an air cooled fiberglass engine that runs on water, man!?
GhostPain@lemmy.world 1 month ago
Water? Brother that’s 50’s tech.
We’re on to Cold Fusion reactors the size of your fist, SRO high-entropy alloys, and room temp superconductors.
:D
turdcollector69@lemmy.world 1 month ago
Really though.
I’ve been saying it for a while, even if we figured out fusion, it wouldn’t see the light of day.
The petrodollar would tank in value because fusion is obviously superior to gasoline/petrol.
It would be the end of the US currency if petroleum were to be replaced.
nulluser@lemmy.world 1 month ago
6543 inventions are currently suppressed.
Like what?
/s
Tylerdurdon@lemmy.world 1 month ago
Pills that actually make your wang the size of an elephant trunk while making it prehensile.
Unlearned9545@lemmy.world 1 month ago
I wouldn’t be surprised if most of them have to do with rocketry or bioweapons and other things to make them work. I’ve designed things personally that are not destructive themselves but aid in testing or improving accuracy of hypersonic vehicles. The DOW (formerly DOD) did not allow us to apply for patents due to national security.
Burninator05@lemmy.world 1 month ago
The DoD is still the DoD. DoW is its preferred name.
thesohoriots@lemmy.world 1 month ago
Reticulated splines
prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 month ago
Nonsense, Maxis did it for years
GhostPain@lemmy.world 1 month ago
Successfully dividing by zero.
homesweethomeMrL@lemmy.world 1 month ago
*lights lighting up on NSA dashboard*
HeartyOfGlass@piefed.social 1 month ago
My flying boots, for one.
FlashMobOfOne@lemmy.world 1 month ago
Probably a really, really good engine.
turdcollector69@lemmy.world 1 month ago
Fusion power.
It would upend the petrodollar and basically the entire global economy.
MadMadBunny@lemmy.ca 1 month ago
Often it will be a specific new process for making, say an unusual alloy or critical component.
Jhex@lemmy.world 1 month ago
and the politicians pinky promise they won’t use it for market manipulation… pinky promise
regedit@lemmy.zip 1 month ago
I always wondered what happened to all the neat reports of cars that ran on old oil or could get 50mpg in the 50s. Guess they were too disruptive. We can’t have nice things. 😮💨
ryathal@sh.itjust.works 1 month ago
Cars that run on old oil are basically just diesel engines. It’s also pretty easy to get a vehicle with high fuel efficiency, it’s really hard to get one that also meets emission standards and doesn’t kill you in a crash.
phoenixz@lemmy.ca 1 month ago
A lot of those claims are just direct horse shit in the “infinite energy” category, or “this car runs on water”
BeardedGingerWonder@feddit.uk 1 month ago
Lol, early 2000s diesels can get 60+mph
Kolanaki@pawb.social 1 month ago
I mean, if some dude invented a neutron bomb in his garage, how would they know until it’s too late? 🤔
BanMe@lemmy.world 1 month ago
They do have networks of radiation sensors and reporters because of the guy who built an atomic device out of smoke detectors, giving himself and others radiation poisoning. Also, there have been some nuclear weapons go a tiny bit permanently missing, and suitcase-size dirty bombs were a huge scare for a hot minute, etc etc.
Honestly it’s really shocking we escaped the past century alive.
Gladaed@feddit.org 1 month ago
Literally does make sense. You don’t want the how to for building a good gyroscope out there(too much). Some bits and pieces are really hard to get working well. And when you do you get great ICBMs. Still might want to patent it.
WoodScientist@lemmy.world 1 month ago
Yeah, let’s voluntarily lower the quality of all of our lives simply to give some minute advantage in the geopolitical chess game.
Gladaed@feddit.org 1 month ago
You would not use those in consumer tech. They are only useful for spaceflight. Which necessarily includes weapons.
Unlearned9545@lemmy.world 1 month ago
Yes, exactly. I used to design tools to test these and we weren’t allowed to patent them, but I think some of the high level concepts were secret patents though I can’t know that.
For anyone wondering the thing ICBMs (and jet planes) use is called a gyroscope and gives the same output but it isn’t a “spinning top” gyro that you might be thinking of. Rather think super sensitive dynamo, or reversed motor. Tiny rotation turns into voltage signal.
There is an even newer type that uses laser but I don’t know anything about it.
W3dd1e@lemmy.zip 1 month ago
W3dd1e@lemmy.zip 1 month ago
Also in 2016, there were 5,680 patents according to this site. Yikes. That’s a big increase.
slickgoat@lemmy.world 1 month ago
Where’s this “Land of the Free” that I keep hearing about?
Rooster326@programming.dev 1 month ago
amino@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 month ago
as long as you’re white and not an immigrant
PlaidBaron@lemmy.world 1 month ago
Hey now, Canada exists too.
ameancow@lemmy.world 1 month ago
There are vast stretches of the Abyssal Plane under the ocean that have no real laws or governance. No healthcare companies, no AI, no partisan politics, nothing.
FordBeeblebrox@lemmy.world 1 month ago
Well I already have my scuba license, time to go apartment hunting
Aeao@lemmy.world 1 month ago
Do you want a bioshock? Because that’s how you get a bioshock.
Tar_alcaran@sh.itjust.works 1 month ago
You can set up a genetic engineering lab for under 5000 bucks in your garage, and I would prefer you being able to google how to DIY some super-ebola, thank you very much.
leftzero@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 month ago
Look, we need to open source genetic engineering.
Some bastard will create super-ebola, sure, but some proactive individuals will quickly create a free vaccine for it, and for cancer and the common cold. (It will also turn you into a literal furry, of course, but that’s probably a price worth paying.)
MBM@lemmings.world 1 month ago
The only defence against a bad genetic engineer is a good genetic engineer
iceonfire1@lemmy.world 1 month ago
Unfortunately causing damage is almost always much easier than protecting against it. For a deadly virus this seems especially true because someone could have a lab in their garage and die once it’s created, but to study it afterward would require extreme care.
So say a few bastards release 1000 variants of different super-viruses instead of just one. Then the research and infrastructure needed to counter them multiply potentially to an unrealistic level.
Also if someone can create super-ebola, that doesn’t mean a vaccine could also be created.
WorldsDumbestMan@lemmy.today 1 month ago
Too late, even the world’s dumbest man can figure it out!
samus12345@sh.itjust.works 1 month ago
dickalan@lemmy.world 1 month ago
Yes this video destroyed me and made me realize that any life-changing awesome invention would surely be suppressed
WorldsDumbestMan@lemmy.today 1 month ago
MissJinx@lemmy.world 1 month ago
not only in the US but I bet the american cia have killed people in other countries to protect rich people money. I bet we do have a water based car
W3dd1e@lemmy.zip 1 month ago
Truman’s house and Presidential Library aren’t too far away if I need to egg it.
jali67@lemmy.zip 1 month ago
Ah yes, more shady behavior under the guise of “national security”.
cAUzapNEAGLb@lemmy.world 1 month ago
Mac@mander.xyz 1 month ago
They’ll suppress it unless they can make money off it like crypto or “AI”.
survirtual@lemmy.world 1 month ago
Bitcoin was publicly released with full code and no pre-mining. It could not be patented for this reason.
The original creator is still unknown and has never moved their coins.
This strategy is the way.
mean_bean279@lemmy.world 1 month ago
I suspect the “threatens economic stability” is stuff like printers that can produce dollars and the type of paper/thread/plastic material that makes up modern currency. I think people are looking for a conspiracy here when it’s just a logical choice. Some things people shouldn’t have a playbook on how to create.
Squizzy@lemmy.world 1 month ago
The US government fought encryption beyond the millenium. Pretty much still is as it gains backdoors everywhere.
Squizzy@lemmy.world 1 month ago
In which case some rich cunt will patent it and nuke the internet of its details
msage@programming.dev 1 month ago
No.
InfiniteStruggle@sh.itjust.works 1 month ago
Good luck scrubbing anything off the internet with even a little social momentum. If people think its good enough to share, then it’s never fully getting scrubbed.
iglou@programming.dev 1 month ago
That is not how the internet works
Bronzebeard@lemmy.zip 1 month ago
Tough to get a valid patent when the prior works were published publicly before you ever applied for it…
Jumbie@lemmy.zip 1 month ago
This is the plot of The Saint and now I have to watch it again.
hakunawazo@lemmy.world 1 month ago
Yes that was a really good deed by Dieter Von Cunth.