alt Hacker NewsA 3D printer, at least of the Prusa variety, is really just a bunch of stepper motors and a dumb motor driver executing a series of effectively "rotate by X steps" commands, which is what the gcode file is. It doesn't know what it's printing. It doesn't even know that it's a printer.
If they wanted a gate on designs it would have to happen in slicing software, not the actual printer.
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They'll still need some DRM in the printer so it will only accept signed gcode that came from the the slicer.
Otherwise it's pretty trivial for someone to just bypass the slicer and hand write the gcode.
Indeed. I grew up in a a machine shop than ran both manual and CNC machines and spent my summers in front of mills and lathes running jobs. I now do industrial automation and machine repair. With that being said, yeah, no way will this work. Ever.
And software? My Bridgeport and Logan were built before computers were available to the home consumer. Good luck stopping someone like me.
Yup. Wait till our genius lawmakers figure that out! Then we'll have all software that can be used to do that job require registration and inspection to certify that it "won't print gun parts." Or maybe "all software" for good measure, in case any sneaky so-and-sos try to make an IRC client with a secret "slicing easter-egg." Better yet, all software of any kind has to be sold through an App Store so we can have Google, Microsoft and Apple gatekeep. That'll work. Gun problem solved.