[null and void]

Major game changer!

(paper obviously written by an academic, fully a third of each page is footnotes!)

[null and void]

Political power grows out of the nozzle of a 3-D Printer.

[ElkGroveDan]

Link?

[OneVike]

So why doesn’t someone just use the 3D printer, to print more 3D printers so you won’t have to buy them from the people selling them?

[uncommonsense]

The author of this paper 1) doesn't seem to understand the segments of technology (seems to use "design" interchangeably with "software") and 2) doesn't really draw any informed conclusions on how various scenarios will shake out. But, it's still worth a quick read.

One scenario he didn't address is the home hobbyist who made a cool widget at home, perfected the digital design to be generally printable, then made the design available for sale online for a nominal price to whomever (to make some pocket change). If the design turns out to be defective in some way (breaks from intended use due to improper engineering and injures one or more people) - can that person be successfully sued? I think the architect example most closely approximates this scenario. If an architect sells plans for a DIY home and it turns out the wiring plan overloads a particular circuit causing some of the homes to burn down - can the architect be sued?

I think with a little more understanding of the 3D market and technologies, and a little more thought - this could have been a much more helpful paper.

[familyop]

Lawyers and their bar associations are drooling over the feeding frenzy ahead. 3D printer folks, for the most part, will not have enough money to defend themselves against the monopolies, while all total, their properties will add up to quite a harvest.