In my humble opinion, too many bloggers state that you can “simply print whole products” from your maker-style 3D printer. The video below takes a little too much license with such statements.  As an engineer who covers this industry, I know such statements are false. Seriously, you cannot simply print an iPhone, for example, from your home-based 3D printer to replace the one “you’ve dropped in your tub.”

Today’s home based 3D printers print plastic, not electronics. If you print an iPhone today on one of those machines, you essentially have a lightweight paperweight. Printing electronics is at the very beginning stages, still under research. You can print a lot of interesting items today, but we still have a way to go before we can print complex, electronic 3D printed items.  Enough with the hyperbolic reporting; don’t malign this industry with exaggeration!

Now, onto the subject of digital rights management: Various businesses will try to stop progress, usually through lawsuits—patent and copyright infringement being the popular choices.

The issue with patents, copyrights and digital rights comes down to money—who gets rich from the action of printing a design. As long as you are not making a ton of money by printing someone else’s design, you probably won’t be bothered. If, however, you try to profit from someone else’s work, you may face legal action. Open source should not include the right to steal from someone else’s hard work.

Learn the copyright laws; that’s your best defense against DRM.

Leslie Langnau
llangnau@wtwhmedia.com