[robflynn]

My main concern is, how long is it before you can't print a replacement part for something you bought because it looks too similar to an OEM part and the manufacturer doesn't think you should be able to do that so they throw a little money to the right politician.

[laylower]

This is part of the wider problem and heavily relates to the right to repair

Cory talked about this. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39jsstmmUUs

[teo_zero]

> how long is it before you can't print a replacement part for something you bought because it looks too similar to an OEM part and the manufacturer doesn't think you should be able to do that so they throw a little money to the right politician

At least 25 years. That's the time passed since the first introduction of Eurion marks on banknotes. As far as I know, noone has used it to block reproduction of anything other than money.

[jrockway]

When I was in college I wrote a computer program (yes, involving yellow text) that couldn't be photocopied because I put the "o"s in the right place to trigger the eurion-finding algorithm. People thought it was neat.

[AlOwain]

That isn't true though, coupons, boarding passes, and even confidential documents use Eurion marks. It's not everywhere because it isn't worthwhile going through the hassle of getting printers that can print them; while 3D printing OEM parts would be much more valuable.

[JasonADrury]

Lots non-currency of documents around the world with EURion marks. If you're a secure printing shop and your business model primarily revolves around impressing your clients with long lists of document security features, it'd be malpractice to not implement this kind of padding.

[Arch-TK]

EURion marks are a feature you must include on your banknote for it to even be considered real. And it's _one_ feature. It's relatively trivial to make a chip which can detect their presence.

On the other hand, if I need a replacement part for something, it's unlikely I will find the manufacturer giving me models for it. And if a manufacturer is giving me models for it, they probably do so with the explicit expectation that I might end up using them to manufacture a replacement.

In most cases either me or some other volunteer will need to measure the existing part, write down all the critical measurements, and then design a new part from scratch in CAD.

Even if somehow you are able to fingerprint on those critical measurements, that's just _one_ part.

The only way this kind of nonsense law could work is if you mandate that 3D printers must not accept commands from an untrusted source (signature verification) and then you must have software which uses a database to check for such critical measurements, ideally _before_ slicing.

Except that still doesn't work because I can always post-process a part to fit.

And it doesn't work even more because the software will need to contain a signing key. Unless the signing key is on a remote server somewhere to which you must send your model for validation.

This is never going to work, or scale.

There are even more hurdles... I can design and build a 3D printer from scratch and manufacture it using non-CNC machined parts at home. A working, high quality 3D printer.

Where are you going to force me to put the locks? Are you going to require me to show my ID when buying stepper motors and stepper motor drivers?

What about other kinds of manufacturing (that these laws, at least the Washington State ones, also cover)?

Will you ban old hardware?

What about a milling machine? Are you going to ban non-CNC mills?

These are the most ignorant laws made by the most ignorant people. The easiest way to ban people from manufacturing their own guns is to ban manufacture of your own guns. But again, this is a complete non-issue in the US where you can probably get a gun illegally more easily than you can 3D print something half as reliable.

[ale42]

Actually I tried to use it just for fun on some vouchers, but it didn't work on the copy machines I tried. They just happily photocopied the vouchers.

[rustyhancock]

Is this true? Couldn't I put the mark on a page of my book and photocopiers would still detect and refuse to copy that page?

[tobyjsullivan]

No idea why this comment is getting downvoted so hard. This was exactly what I thought of too, and it provides a concrete answer to the question.

There’s valid concern with these types of laws and scope creep. But there’s also precedent which shows they can work and be applied reasonably.

[PunchyHamster]

Suuure buddy, we just need to throw away every gun and introduce new ones with special marks telling software not copy.

Go ahead, try that

[PlatoIsADisease]

I remember ~10 or 15 years ago, I had concerns about drones becoming illegal due to FAA.

I was assured by the internet, I was paranoid, blah blah safety...

Then a few weeks ago something about Minnesota and ICE making drones illegal to fly or something...

The weird part is that, in that 15 years, I've become more moderate and pro-democratic rule of law... but I was right about my previous concerns. Not that I believe in the Justice behind them anymore.

[salawat]

>I remember ~10 or 15 years ago, I had concerns about drones becoming illegal due to FAA.

My Plato hating friend, my "called it" list is filled with things the old-timers at the time said no one would be stupid enough to, and the old codgers went and died on me so I can't even give em a good lambast. I believed them, and helped them build things... Now I get to watch things get coopted by a madman and a NatSec apparatus. Pour one out.

[TOMDM]

The rights abuses occurring in Minnesota and at the hands of ICE are better characterised as a degradation of democracy, not a failure of it.

EDIT: To be clear, my belief is that a plurality of the voting population voted for this, that much is obvious.

My belief is also that despite the fact that the current administration was elected, there are democratic norms and rules for what outcomes require that a bill must be passed to enact, that states can decide how they can govern themselves within well defined bounds.

All of this is being ignored despite the structures defined in the American democatric system, not because of it.

[rpcope1]

They sort of tried with the remote ID and FRIA shit, I really doubt anyone but the kind of person that buys DJI or maybe the most broken hall monitor types bother with remote ID on fixed wing even above 250g. I think the Trump admin banned (or tried) to ban all the important parts for all RC craft, so maybe they'll keep jousting with windmills even harder.

[catgirlinspace]

Recently they banned all new DJI drones and as far as I know they were basically the only option in the consumer space? And there's nothing domestically of course :/

[watwut]

To be fair, ICE is not particularly caring about rule of law. And DOJ is currently not caring about rule of law or constitution either. They are kind of irrelevant.

[nemomarx]

I guess it was a predictable outreach from the Patriot act - the new justification is flying drones "over a mission" from the border people, and they claim a lot of territory for their missions, right?

[2muchcoffeeman]

Too bad everyone jumped shipped to Bambuu Labs. If only we still had open source hardware.

[dns_snek]

We do still have open source hardware but that's the last line of defense against actions like this, not the first. They'll target distribution which will affect open source and proprietary hardware equally. You need to kill this sort of legislation in its crib.

[vincnetas]

Prusa is still kicking... if open source hardware is your priority.

[hedora]

I’m new to 3d printing. I saw bambu pushed a firmware update that bricked offline mode, so didn’t really consider them when shopping around.

I’m really liking my (better specs for less money) elegoo centauri. I compiled the slicer from source because there weren’t Linux binaries.

All problems solved. It even happily prints exotic stuff like TPU, which I guess bambu has been cracking down on for unclear reasons.

Maybe I don’t know what I’m missing, but I’ve had zero issues downloading files (even from bambu-centric websites) and running them through the slicer.

I can’t imagine wanting to use their cloud whatever thing, or it providing any value beyond the open source stacks.

[hamdingers]

My Bambu printer is working great in LAN mode on a vlan with no internet access. Never even complains about it. I'm not concerned.

You can still make an open source printer with some extrusion and stepper motors, same as always.

[MegaDeKay]

We still have open source hardware in Voron. High performance and almost infinitely moddable. Pair it with the open source Klipper firmware and open source slicer OrcaSlicer and you're there.

[sharperguy]

This bill would effectively make prusa illegal, which is my main issue with it. I refuse to buy anything else if it is not open in the same way.

[bluescrn]

3D printer hardware is pretty simple. All the magic happens in software, and there's plenty of open-source options.

[qmr]

Sovol open source hardware and software.

[alnwlsn]

All the open source designs from 10 years ago still work, not like they went away.

[ddtaylor]

AnyCubic AMS is great

[0xedd]

None I know did. If you do your research, all the hype around Bambu is paid. Influencers pushed it. Tech deep dives show it is sub standard. Posted on HN.

Prusa is king. High quality. Open source. EU made and engineered. Slicer is a market leader (Bambu's a fork of it).

[passwordoops]

IP/BigCo lawyers are probably the main lobbyists behind this article in the bill so I would think soonish

[dmux]

I wonder if you could circumvent this by adding a thin appendage to whatever it was you're printing and then just snip it off post-print.

[PunchyHamster]

probably about 6 months after people start screaming about the issue

[hedora]

It’ll happen the day this bill is passed.

If they cared even a little bit about gun violence, they’d focus on mental health and other preventive measures.

If they just wanted to provide the illusion that they cared about gun violence, they’d go after high-volume manufacturers first.

This reminds me of Trump’s Venezuela coup. I’m offended they aren’t even bothering to properly lie about their motives.

[nerdsniper]

I’ll just build my own 3D printer lol. Did it college 15 years ago. I’ll do it again.

[nish__]

"And when you're done that, can you build another one and sell it to me?"

You see how it's impossible to regulate technology? I don't want my tax dollars funding impossible missions.

[crote]

The obvious next move is to ban all sales of 3D printer parts. You got a license for that extruded aluminum profile?

[b00ty4breakfast]

I would unironically love to see the diy 3d printer scene come back.

[DeathArrow]

You can do that if it is still legal.