We call them "physical virtual pirates"

[mofoburrell]

Should it be illegal to copy physical things?

The Pirate Bay has just added a new category called physibles, plans for physical things that can be printed with a 3D printer (which very few people own, currently). They're calling it "the future". What say you

Comments

[mofoburrell]

It's unclear at this point where the plans are coming from (this is fancy talk for "I'm lazy"). What if they weren't based on original blueprints, but were from a 3D scanner?

[mofoburrell]

Apparently there's already been a DMCA takedown around this area of 3D printing by a company that does Warhammer (table-top role playing) miniatures. I think someone modelled an approximation of their miniatures and starting sharing it for people to print their own miniatures. I haven't looked into details.

I've seen a video of a printer that can print a working adjustable wrench (which blows my mind). I think the people behind it are pushing for an industry where people can print their own tools. The Pirate Bay specifically mentions the possibility of people printing spare parts for their car, too. It's hard to say where it'll go in the near future.

[felicitea]

Do you have a link to that video? Never mind, found it further down :)
That's amazing.

[thatjazz]

Essentially, it would just print out the whole chair or machine part or whatever. Some assembly may be required, and most home 3d printers are pretty small, but the point is you basically hit a button and it "prints" the object.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFZXgxcfdHQ&feature=related

There has been some controversy in the gaming community recently. There is a board game called Settlers of Catan that uses specialized shaped pieces. But people now want to print their own versions on their 3D printers. There is an interesting article about it and honestly I'm really not sure how I feel about it: http://www.publicknowledge.org/blog/3d-printing-settlers-catan-probably-not-illeg

[thatjazz]

Yes, they're hexagons, but they have to be a specific shape, fit into the framing "ocean" pieces, need to be a particular size to fit the settlements and roads on, etc.

[thatjazz]

Totally, I agree, it would be possible and really not hard at all to create your own cardboard, plastic, wood (that would be awesome), whatever home version. I think it's the ease of reproduction here, also the fact that having plans for it is encouraging people to print their own instead of buying the game from the manufacturer. I don't know if it's right or wrong but I've done it (made a Homer's Odyssey themed version of "Candyland" for a school project in high school).

[finding_jay]

They're usually small because you're limited by how much space you want to have (this is presuming we're not talking about Cupcakes). If you're looking at things like Mendels and FrankenMendels and Darwin's, you're really limited by the steel rods you can find. You could build them as big as elephants if you wanted.