DRM Could Come To 3D Printers

another random user sends this excerpt from TorrentFreak: "Downloading a car – or a pair of sneakers – will be entirely possible, although Ford and Nike won't be particularly happy if people use their designs to do so. A new patent, issued this week by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office and titled 'Manufacturing control system', describes a system whereby 3D printer-like machines (the patent actually covers additive, subtractive, extrusion, melting, solidification, and other types of manufacturing) will have to obtain authorization before they are allowed to print items requested by the user. In a nutshell, a digital fingerprint of 'restricted items' will be held externally and printers will be required to compare the plans of the item they're being asked to print against those in a database. If there's a match, printing will be disallowed or restricted."

Comments

Shouldn't be patentable

[Nimey]

because it's bloody obvious.

Re:Shouldn't be patentable

[v1]

they'll likely add algorithms to compare similarity. Too high of a percentage will trigger a hit. or they will have a specific part of the design require an exact match. More likely though, they will use a combination of these two approaches - a nearly exact match (99.5%) on any of a number of small structures, OR a 95% overall match, trips it.

It will probably require the design files to be encrypted, and you have to request the key online. The DRM will be the firmware on the fab machine that handles the decrypted data in a protected way, similar to how bluray players and hdmi cables handle the decrypted video. This is not too difficult to implement, and would be somewhat effective, until someone "cracks" your design file and publishes it somewhere. So you could download the design file for free, then use an interface on your fab machine to pay for x copies to be made - it connects to the server specified in the design file, authenticates as a secure fab machine, sends your payment, and downloads a license file with the key and a use counter and stores it. That actually makes a lot of sense.

(Scenario: the fab file would be similar to bluray, the data is encrypted with a random key like the bluray title key, call it the ItemKey. when the fab machine has authenticated (over SSL) as a secure fabber to the manufacturer, they will send the ItemKey to it. The fab machine then encrypts the ItemKey along with the counter, using its own FabKey and appends it to the fab file. Then it can create a copy of the item when requested. It has access to the ItemKey and can decrement the CopyCounter each time a copy is fabbed. If you pull the hdd/etc out you can't tamper with or access the key or the counter because you don't have the FabKey, which is hidden in the fab machine's firmware. later if you decided you didn't need all 10 copies of the item, you could use the fabber's interface to "return" the 3 copies you didn't use, at 85% of original purchase price)

So this won't prevent a "warez" market for decrypted design files, and think that was their ultimate goal. Just a matter of hacking the fabber just like they hack the bluray players now. So they're left to flat out asking permission for ANYTHING, encrypted or not. But that's been found impossible on the computer. Imagine having to get online and connect to some central computer to get permission to run that new update to Firefox, or to run the application you just finished compiling. I don't think it would be any more tolerated with a fab machine. So they'll have to be content with just protecting encrypted content. Really, they'd be complete morons to try to trust unencrypted data once it's in someone else's physical control. Client-side-security always loses in the end. The bigger you bet on it, the more spectacular the fail that results.

The message is clear

[Anonymous Coward]

do not buy a US made 3D printer, ever.
simple

Solution

[jones_supa]

Well *ahem* the solution obviously is to use the excellent Lulzbot AO-100 printer.

Re:Science Fiction, Anyone?

[Anonymous Coward]

Charles Hall was denied the waterbed patent in part because of Heinlein's description of the "hydraulic bed" in Stranger In A Strange Land.
[url] http://www.techrepublic.com/article/geek-trivia-strange-waterbedfellows/6098825 [/url]