Come on people, the story is so outrageous that you know it's not true. The entire story consists of the media simply repeating other media stories, with a game of "telephone" increasingly distorting the facts.
The thing in question is a "StarMed VentuMask". The entire ensemble costs about $80. 
Here is a nice video of them setting it up:
If you want to go online and buy some and send to Italy, here's one link:
intermedical24.de/intersurgical-…
intermedical24.de/intersurgical-…
As far as I cant tell, what they are 3D printing isn't a "valve", but the "venturi flow meter". These are fundamentally different parts of the system.
The Verge later ammends it's story to clarify:
- the $11,000 was bogus
- they didn't receive any legal threats
The story is that the person they talked to on the phone didn't give them the design files -- the operator.
- the $11,000 was bogus
- they didn't receive any legal threats
The story is that the person they talked to on the phone didn't give them the design files -- the operator.
As a security researcher who has to contact vendors often about the vulnerabilities in their product, I've gone through this process a lot. The operators who answer the phone can't do squat.
If one of you so-called "journalists" want to do some journalism, get in contact with with the CEO of Intersurgical and get those design files, or a at least a statement from the PR why you can't have them.
