NY Times runs a great story (via Idea City) about 3D scanners and printers. A lot of it is about the author's experience with using different models, but he also touches upon something AdLab had posted before: the "Napsterization", as he calls it, of physical objects as they turn from atoms to bits and then to atoms again: "The legal landscape, though, may not be ready for the Napsterization of three-dimensional things. Most of the cute, small tchotchkes in my house that fit on the turntable of the NextEngine scanner I tested are copyrighted. Zapping up a new version might run afoul of the same laws being used to fight the piracy of songs."
[Update] Slashdot discussion, very insightful.
Earlier:
Fortune on Personal Fabricators
Sears Carries Cheap Fabricator, Enters Second Life
