Copyright and 3D printers

Some interesting comments and predictions about 3D printing in the article below by Denis McEvoy. Just as we can now legally download movies and get digital TV or get pirated content via Pirate Bay, there will probably some form of dualism in the 3D printing sphere: either you can get a copyrighted 3D model you can print on a sanctioned 3D printer within a sanctioned ecosystem, a la App Store, or a free market where you can download objects for free that are either copyrighted or not. The latter already exists (Pirate Bay's Physibles)... (The intersection between copyright and 3D printing was already covered in this earlier post.)

This technology will completely change the world beyond any of our comprehensions. The effects will be extreme and wide-ranging. Over a relatively short space of time most factories could become useless, thousands of jobs would be lost and shipping and post would reduce dramatically. 

The new system of downloading everything from your food to condoms will likely see piracy remain as a major problem. Companies will probably sell us the digital blueprints of the items we want and then we'll make them in our next-generation printer. This will leave every possible product open to being pirated. How that will be curbed is something few people have even begun to think about.

Printing a new iPhone, a pair of runners - or even your dinner (Joe.ie)

Advocating U.S. manufacturing jobs through 3D printing

Michael Heisenberg at Seeking Alpha has an opinion post about the decline of American manufacturing and how to turn the tide. The solution: get the 3D printing industry going in the US. Interestingly, he cites the iPhone as an example of how America lost the battle. (As he talks about the iPhone, I suggest you read my manifesto Death to centralized manufacturing, long live 3D printing--or why Apple should venture into printers.)

Obama's leapfrog is to turn America into the Global leader in local production by investing heavily in 3D printing and the maker class. In the same way that the Chinese government invested in glass factories that ultimately won business for iPhone production, America can start manufacturing again by setting up centers of low cost, mass customized production via 3D printing and this should be done locally. America's innovative class is already leading in 3D printing with the Maker Movement, making waves and gathering a following. 

What is missing is ubiquity and lower costs. As a number of commenters discussed on Fred Wilson's AVC blog, cost and ubiquity still stand in the way of an explosion in 3D printing but it will come and when it does, America should want to be at the forefront because 3D printing can disrupt the current global supply chain. Yes, disrupt the current global supply chain. 

Already, private companies are leading the way, 3D Systems (Nasdaq: DDD, Objet (in IPO process) and Shapeways are driving the costs of 3D printing lower (ironically Objet (Israel) and Shapeways (great prezi)(Netherlands) are both non-US companies) and making mass customization cheaper and more accessible. However, if you want to leapfrog, you need to go all-in. By subsidizing and encouraging the building of local infrastructure, retraining middle class manufacturing to start and operate 3D printing facilities and by building global/local supply chains by investing massively in 3D printing facilities, Obama can start altering the global supply chain dynamics.

How Barack Obama Can Bring Manufacturing Jobs Back To America (seekingalpha.com)